Out in The Open
by shadowsofthelight369
Summary: The Order is badly losing even as Voldemort's forces grow. Persuaded by the Order's leaders and his long time friend, Draco Malfoy, Fred Weasley becomes a spy for the Order, a Death Eater. His family are beyond devistated at his betrayal. The war goes on, and even as Fred falls in love, his family hate him. Fred is forced to torture and kill, changing him. But is he really Dark?
1. Chapter 1

Hi, so this is my new story... I'm almost done writing it, and it should have at least 11 chapters total. BTW, there was an issue when I published this chapter (the first chapter) earlier today. This is take two... hope it works now.

I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it, this is just a fanfiction. Enjoy.

Stupid Draco, stupid Death Eaters, stupid Voldemort. Stupid me, for agreeing to this! Fred though, currently, he was out in the pouring rain, waiting for Draco Malfoy to show up. Fred had already cast several charms, both to shelter all of him from the rain, and when those didn't work for long, he had cast one simply to keep his clothes dry.

He was waiting for Draco, who would then bring him to the Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort himself, where he would, if everything went right, become a Death Eater himself.

Things were going as bad as they could go for the Light. Months into the war, they had sustained heavy casualties, and people were wary of joining the Order, leaving it severely understaffed. All but one or two of the Order's spies had been discovered, and killed, their tortured bodies left for the Order to find. If they were to win the war, something needed to change.

Draco and Fred had been friends, secretly during their Hogwarts years, and after Draco joined the Death Eaters, distant until recently, but friends nonetheless before the war. They had only remained friends because Draco had explained to Fred how he was mostly an unwilling Death Eater, pressured into it by his father. Only weeks ago, Draco had, unknown by the Dark, contacted Fred, and enlisted his help.

Draco was a spy. For the Order. He passed information from within the Dark side itself to the Order, equipping them with knowledge. Very, very few people were aware that Draco was anything but a lower level Inner Circle member for the Dark.

A few weeks ago, when Draco had gotten back in touch with Fred, Draco had told Fred what he was, and had asked, on behalf of the other spies and the few aware Order members, if he would do the same. Fred had been hesitant at first, and understandably so after hearing what happened to most spies, but after Draco told him about all that he, and the other two spies, were doing and changing for the light, Fred had reconsidered. He still took some persuasion, but eventually conceded that he would be willing to do it.

Even if it meant turning his back on his family, as they couldn't know he was a spy, and to them, he would have to be only another Death Eater. At least until the war was over, hopefully having been won by the light.

And so here he was, his choice made, standing in the rain, waiting for Draco to come and get him.

It was only a few more minutes wait until Fred heard the sound of apperation, and weary, he pulled out his wand. He was relieved to see that it was Draco, looking characteristically grim. He held out his hand towards Fred, and Fred, knowing that the only way for him, not yet a Death Eater, would be able to get into the Dark's headquarters, would be for a Death Eater to side along apperate him there. Mentally steeling himself with Occlumency he had learned from Snape, he grabbed Draco's wrist, unwilling to grab his hand directly. Draco stared at Fred, and they looked at each other, eye to eye, for a few moments, before he apperated them to Malfoy Manor, the Death Eater headquarters.

Just outside the gates to the manor, Fred looked around. The grounds were large, the house itself bordering on the edge of what looked to be a large forest.

At the open gates, two other Death Eaters, with their masks on, were waiting for them. Wordlessly, Fred and Draco walked over to them and then they walked into the gates, and up the walkway before walking into the house. The house itself had a cold unfeeling aura around it, reflected in the cold marble floors. The polished shoes of the death eaters sounded sharply against the marble, which left a resounding echo to bounce against the walls.

The Death Eaters lead Fred to what he assumed was the main meeting room. The room had a long mahogany table, which was full of more masked Death Eaters. The two Death Eaters who had lead him and Draco in, joined the others at the table. From behind him, Draco, with his mask on, pointed him to a cluster of chairs over to the front of the room, and then joined the others at the table.

Fred walked over to the chairs, all but two were filled, he sat in one. Draco had already informed him that he would be, if deemed acceptable by Voldemort, initiated with them, providing that they were approved as well. After the initiation, they would be assigned to a Death Eater, probably one of the Inner Circle, who would 'guide' them in the ways of the Death Eaters, and make sure that they wouldn't do anything to embarrass the cause, only further it.

He looked at the other prospective Death Eaters, knowing that, though they were in the same situation, they were nothing like each other. There with him, unmasked, wearing the same black robes as him, he only recognised a few. Harrison Ainsley, a pureblood Slytherin in his year, and a few people that he was sure he had seen around school when he went, though they were younger than him.

They waited in a tense silence, only the few highest up Death Eaters confident enough to talk. Everyone who had broken the silence, fell silent when Lord Voldemort walked in. The Death Eaters, and the hopefuls, including Fred, bowed low.

"Welcome, my loyal Death Eaters, to another initiation, where we will hopefully swell our ranks."

Fred's mind was both calm and full of terror. Voldemort got to his feet, before moving to the teens next to Fred. There were only five other teens there, and the minutes seemed to slow down as Voldemort evaluated each of them. Three of them passed his tests, and were individually given the Dark Mark. The other two, before him, were killed. A quick Avada Kedavra and they were dead. He distantly heard a few gasps when they were killed from the table, but they were quickly quieted. Fred vaguely wondered if it was family of the now dead, having brought their child into the Death Eaters, confident they would do well, but still uncertain, and now they were dead.

It was his turn. Voldemort looked over at him, and Fred carefully made eye contact, Draco having told him that Voldemort would use Legitimacy to see the answers to the questions. Fred wouldn't even need to answer verbally, just as Voldemort would ask the questions in his mind.

Still keeping eye contact, Fred heard a voice in his head, and knew it was Voldemort.

Why do you wish to join my cause, Weasley?

Truth be told, Fred didn't, but he hid that, and brought his schooled thoughts to his mind, blocking the other parts with occlumency. Fred thought about how he had been 'forced' to live with 'filthy' blood traitors, and was 'sick' of a muggle loving father, and a smothering mother. A house to small for all his siblings. He felt a small pang of guilt, but pushed it away. None of it was true after all. All lies fixated in his head earlier that very day with Draco's help.

Evidently, Voldemort was satisfied, undoubtedly full of visions of the glory his Death Eaters would hold, and he asked another question.

What can you bring to the Death Eaters? Why should I allow you to become one of my most trusted fighters?

They trust me, Fred thought, I'll be a weakness to them. Voldemort paused for a moment, his face still blank.

He nodded, showing his approval. He spoke aloud, his eyes still trained on Fred, "Congrats, Weasley. Hold out your arm."

Fred did so, both relieved and still anxious. His left sleeve was pushed back, and Voldemort lightly pressed the tip of his pale, bone wand to the exposed flesh. He muttered a few words, and Fred felt a stinging pain in his arm.

Fred, against the burning pain, closed his eyes, not allowing tears to fall. It was over as quickly and suddenly as it had started, although it still smarted. He looked down at it, as Voldemort walked away, back to his seat at the table, and quickly looked away. The Dark Mark was there, burned into his skin. The black and green stood out livid against his skin. It was moving, side to side, as if alive.

Voldemort turned to his table again, and they looked at him expectantly, it was obviously the time where the 'mentors' would be assigned.

Fred wondered who he would get, he hoped someone ruthless, so that no one would accuse him of treason, but at the same time, he hoped for someone lower down so that he could fade away, unnoticed in the ranks. It was the difference between what was best for him, and his mortality, and what would get him the best information for the Order. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the choice wasn't up to him, it was up to Voldemort.

"Now, for young Ainsley, Lucius, you should do fine." Malfoy and Ainsley made eye contact, and Lucius nodded stiffly.

"Nott, how about Greengrass?" A figure about halfway down the table nodded his satisfaction as Voldemort studied him.

"Daphne Greengrass, you will be trained in our ways by Rodolphus Lestrange." A figure, presumably Lestrange, nodded, turning slightly to the figure next to him, who ignored him.

Daphne and the elder Greengrass must have been related, probably even as closely as father and daughter. Fred wondered that if Daphne hadn't passed, if she had been killed, would the elder Greengrass just have been one of those muffled murmurs?

"And finally, Weasley, I saw extra potential in you, and so you will go to Bellatrix Lestrange. Do well with him Bella." The figure, almost directly to Voldemort's right nodded excitedly, and turned to the figure next to her, that if Fred remembered correctly, was Rodolphus. They were married.

"And that is all.. Oh, Wormtail, yes, clean up the bodies of the ones that weren't up to it. You can all leave, but if the new Death Eaters will stay with their Mentors."

Fred stayed where he was sitting. The majority of the figures left the room, bowing carefully before they did so. Fred wondered if it ever got boring for Voldemort, all the bowing, it must be such a time waster.

He stood up, and approached the four Death Eaters, who were talking to Voldemort, the other new Death Eaters followed him.

The four took off their masks, and handed them to their trainees, as Fred assumed was traditional. He looked at the mask in his hands, Bellatrix now standing next to him, almost proudly.

The mask, if it had been Bellatrix's then who new how many it had seen die at her hands, assuming that she hadn't had any other apprecentices. Going by her surprised look earlier, she hadn't. Bellatrix was famed to be as bloodthirsty as the Lord she served, and if she had had this mask since she herself had been given it, probably by Voldemort, as she was one of the first Death Eaters, it had been hers for years. Years, under Lord Voldemort, he assumed, would entail a lot of killing. No doubt that Bellatrix would have taken joy in it. From what he had heard of her at least.

She stood next to him, and looked at Voldemort, and Fred did the same, assuming that he would say something.

"I trust that they will be full Death Eaters in 3 months time, as is customary?" Voldemort asked the elder Death Eaters, nodding when they murmured positive.

"And Weasley, you are publically a traitor, to the Light, yes?"

Fred nodded, knowing that he would have to be a public Death Eater, and that he would have to 'turn on his family'. He had already arranged, with the few main leaders of the Order, to have a single person in the Order that he would meet with, and that he would pass information on to (when he meet with said person, he would also have to confide what he had done as a Death Eaters, so that after the war he would be pardoned for the crimes). That way he wouldn't have to go to actual Order meetings, like Snape did, because he would have no excuse to Voldemort as for why he was there.

"Very well, Bella, you will house him, at least until he is done with training."

Fred held back a grimace, he was hoping that he could simply continue to stay in his flat (he had bought one separate from his twin, when he had decided to be a Death Eater, so that a fabricated 'row' with his twin could be blamed for him leaving their shared flat and for his turn to the Dark). Looking back, he realised that he couldn't have expected this, as the Light will be, after learning of his 'betrayal' to them, hunting him down. Him spying for the Order, was to be a top secret, known only by Order leadership, and the single person that he would pass information to. No one else was to know. In the unlikely event that they all were killed, he would anonymously give them information.

Voldemort dismissed them, and Nott with Greengrass, and Ainsley with Lucius Malfoy, disapperated, separately of course.

Bella, with her hand on his shoulder, steered him over to her husband, who was talking with his trainee. Bella nodded to her husband, and he put his hand on Daphne's shoulder. Moments later, Fred felt to pull of apperation, and guessed that he had to be side along apparition into the wards, and that Bella had done just that.

Opening his closed eyes, he looked around, taking in that Rodolphus had apperated with the only new female Death Eater. She looked at him, her owlish, green eyes unblinking, and he stared back. She blinked and looked away when Rodolphus got her attention.

After a short lecture on the importance of following instructions, and making sure that your best was always shown to the public, so that you would reflect good on the Dark Lord, Fred was shown to a room, and Daphne was shown to the one opposite his. Although Daphne could have gone back to her own house, it was usually decided that new Death Eaters, like Daphne, would stay with their trainer, as a sign of independence from their parents and new change.

New change for Fred especially. Hopefully not a long one.

Bella informed him that training would start at 6:00 tomorrow morning, and to be in the dining hall, where most meals were had. He was also told that a house elf would come and get him in a few hours when dinner would be served.

Fred, finally left alone, looked around the room. It was large, bookshelves lining one wall, full of Dark Arts and magic books, and against the other a bed. Next to the door on the other wall, which upon further investigation, Fred saw lead to a bathroom, was a wardrobe. In the wardrobe, was basic clothes, including a few sets of black Death Eater robes. Fred assumed that the House Elfs had been told ahead of time to prepare the room for a trainee Death Eater, even if Bella and Rodolphus hadn't.

Moving to the bed, Fred looked at the Death Eater mask that was still in his hand, and set it on the bedside table, unsure of what to do with it. He sat on the edge of the bed, and carefully pulled up the sleeve to his robe, looking at the Dark mark.

It didn't hurt anymore, thankfully, but it was still a vibrant black and green, moving slightly, and Fred guessed that that was how it looked normally. The skin around it was still red, and the skin nearest to it was puffy and swollen. He pushed the sleeve back down, not wanting to look at it any longer.

He thought about when his family would get the news. He imagined that first he would be a missing person, someone probably caught by the Dark and tortured before systematically killed, which, of course, wasn't the case. Probably, when he had some Death Eater training under his belt, he would go an a raid, against the Light, and would reveal himself then. Or maybe, for a more dramatic reveal, Voldemort would have him wait until a more consequential battle, perhaps the battle, and reveal himself then, to weaken the Light's moral. He was part of a family that had supported the Light unfailingly in both of the wars, to have him change sides in such a public way, it would crush the Light side's moral, and will to win. Not to mention his family's.

Standing up suddenly, unable to keep thinking about it, he crossed the large room to the bookshelf. Most of the books were on Dark magic. He grabbed one of the ones on all types of charms, a subject he both enjoyed and was good at. It would do. It was hardly something he would normally read, but, with a new, hopefully temporary, life on the Dark side, it would probably be best if he had some knowledge of the darker side of magic.

He read for the next two or so hours, happy for the escape, before a house elf told him that dinner was ready and that it would lead him to the Dining Room.

Following the house elf, Fred thought about the oddness of the book he was reading. It was full of dark spells for household things, like cleaning and cooking spells, similar to the ones that his mother used. Obviously, what he had been told of the Dark was, at the very least, extremely biased, and at the worst, completely wrong.

Dinner was a pleasant, if awkward affair. He sat next to Daphne, and the often exchanged looks of disgust when Bella and Rodolphus kissed, or something similarly gross. He and Daphne talked, Fred was happy to find that she was pleasant to talk to, if dark. Bella told both of them that, since they lived in the same house and all, they would mostly be training together. Training started at 6 o'clock, and breakfast was at 5:30, a house elf would wake them both up.

With a feeling of unease, Fred went to bed, he had changed into pajamas he had found in the wardrobe.

He couldn't help but feel that it was a new beginning, for better or for worse. But he wouldn't, couldn't forget, through the pain that would come when his family discovered him, why he was here.

* * *

Please review and tell me what you thought of it. I will update this next Saturday or Friday. Cheers! :)


	2. New life in the Dark

_I don't, in any way, own Harry Potter, or the magical world associated with it. *sobs*_

The next morning Fred woke up, his head feeling muffled, to a house elf talking loudly in his face. He opened his eyes, and jerked back, instinctually, from the wrinkled elf face in front of his own.

"Missy is glad you have woken up, sir! Mistress Bellatrix," she shivered in fear and trepidation when she said her name, "has commanded that Missy is to wake you up and inform you of breakfast being served in the Dining Room."

Fred sat up, yawning, "Hmm, yes, is that all, Missy?"

"Yes, sir! Will you be joining Master and Mistress Lestrange, and Miss Daphne in the Dining Room? Miss Daphne hasn't arrived yet, but she agreed to attend."

"Yes, I'll go to breakfast. What time is it?"

"5:16, you still have 14 minutes until you are expected."

"Alright Missy. You can… Leave?" Fred said, not sure what to say, or if she would even leave.

She nodded, and apperated away.

Fred shook his head, hoping to wake himself up, and got out of bed. He quickly showered and dressed, before checking the time and leaving. He got to the Dining Room a minute early, but Bellatrix and Rodolphus were already seated, talking to each other. Hesitantly he sat at the same seat he had yesterday, and participated limitedly in the conversation. Only a minute or two later, Daphne entered. She sat next to him, and across from Rodolphus, who nodded at her before turning back to his wife.

Fred and Daphne were soon talking, and Fred was glad that he had started to make a friend, he would need them.

Daphne was in Draco's year and Hogwarts, only a year and a half younger than him. Fred was 19, and she was just over 17 and a half, both young to join the Death Eaters.

Halfway into breakfast, the question of when Fred's allegiance would be shown to the Light, was raised by Rodolphus to Bella, and Fred and Daphne both broke off their conversation to hear the answer.

"The Dark Lord told me that it would probably be revealed either during a raid after his training, or when we take the Ministry, whenever that is."

Fred had already known, as everybody did, that the Dark had their sights set on the Ministry next. It was common knowledge among the Order, and it seemed, among the Dark.

Fred smiled happily, putting on a front, "I can't wait to see their faces when they see that I wasn't so loyal to them after all." He knew that it was expected that he have a positive reaction to his family knowing of his 'true' allegiance, but the thought of their reactions still made him sick to the stomach. They would be beyond horrified.

Bellatrix grinned at him, and Rodolphus nodded. Daphne studied him with an odd expression on her face, and Fred felt a wave of panic. He ingored it, and waited for her to return to the conversation and stop looking at him,

After breakfast, Bella lead him to a dueling room, as she called it, saying that Daphne and her trainer would be in one of the other rooms. The basic route of training would be the same, but her and Rodolphus had different methods. A lot of their training would be together, but some of it, like now, would be individual.

"Alright now, Ickle Weasley, let's start out with a nice, easy duel." Fred doubted that if it was against her it would be any semblance of easy.

He took a crude dueling stance in front of her, and bowed, as she did to him.

He was hesitant to shoot a curse at her, and so merely started walking in a large semicircle. She did the same, looking at him with barely concealed amusement.

Of course she made the first move, "Stupefy!"

He dodged, and wondered why she would use such a light, and overused curse.

He pointed his wand at her and yelled, "Bombarda!" he had used a darker, deadlier spell, hoping to impress her.

She batted it aside easily, and shot another spell at him. She cast it non verbally, so Fred had little idea what it was. He cast a shield, but thought that it might break under the curse, so dodged as well. He was glad he had dodged, for the sickly purple light beam had gone straight through the albeit weak shield, and would have hit him if he hadn't moved.

Bella and Fred dueled back and forth, for at least another hour. Fred knew that Bella was simply getting a taste for how strong he was, and where he needed work. She could have easily won and ended the duel if she wished.

When they stopped, she taught him a few dark curses, and told him to try and duel with only them.

He failed at the second duel, utterly. He wasn't very good at dark magic, at least not yet, and so, with her impatience showing, she crucioed him. It only lasted a few seconds, and then she let him up. After his short crucioing, she gave him a potion for the pain and after effects, and after he had drunk it, showed him again how to cast the spells.

He did much better the second time she showed him, and was able to, though slowly, fire them in succession.

The hours passed quickly, them dueling, and then stopping for Fred to learn another few new spells.

Around 12:00, the met back up with Daphne and Rodolphus for lunch in the dining room. Daphne had said that they had done about the same thing as Fred and Bella. According to her, since she already knew a lot of dark spells, they had dueled a lot.

After lunch, instead of going back to the dueling rooms, Bella and Rodolphus lead them both, together, down to the dungeons. As Bella said, it was to be their first lesson on how to torture. Fred felt a pit start to develop in his stomach.

Down in the dungeons, Bellatrix showed them to a cell, where a young couple, a woman and man, were chained. Fred didn't recognise them as anyone from the Order, so he assumed that they were muggles.

Gleefully, Bella turned to them and said, "Right, so your goal is to torture them, whoever gets them to beg first wins, they're muggles, so you don't need to worry for accidental magic from them, like you would with magical beings."

Daphne and Fred just looked at her, and she sighed impatiently, "Rodolphus and I will show you, but next time you'll do it on your own, you're Death Eaters now, remember." She nodded to her husband, who entered the cell with her.

For the next hour or so, Bellatrix and Rodolphus tortured the couple. Daphne didn't show it, but he could tell by her pale complexion and horrified face and, at times, look, that she was sickened by it as well as Fred. When the woman and man were both dead, missing several limbs, Fred and Daphne were both dismissed to go back to their rooms. Fred sat on his bed in his room, hands shaking. He closed his eyes, but soon opened them, unable to stand to march of images of the couple, in various states, when he closed his eyes.

He was exhausted, but unsure if he would be able to sleep, hungry but didn't know if he could stomach food, he would find out at dinner in an hour.

And it was only day one.

 _Hope you enjoyed, drop a review if you want, sorry it's shorter than usual, next one is longer. Have a great day and week. :)_


	3. The Reveal

_Alright, so I shouldn't need to say it, but, I do NOT in anyway have any ownership of Harry Potter, no matter how much I wish that were different. :)_

 _Review if you enjoyed, or if you didn't... On with the story!_

3 Months later:

It was today.

Today, Fred and the other Death Eaters that he had been given the Dark Mark with, would end training, and receive full Death eater status. To mark the day, later in the afternoon, there would be a raid on a village near one of the Order's safe houses. At the raid, when the Order came, Voldemort would reveal Fred as one of his loyal Death Eaters.

He had developed a strong friendship with Daphne, and the two were very close. While Fred had wanted to confide in her that he was going to be a spy, once he entered the Death Eater ranks and was done with training, for the Order, but decided against it. He was sure that Daphne was a loyal Death Eater, but certain that she could be swayed to help him. Albeit with time.

Right now, Fred was seated, for the first time, at a Death Eater meeting, as a Death Eater. He was excited about it, he had, after all, worked for it for the last 3 months or so. The meeting would be over in 10 or so minutes, according to Bella, who sat next to him, and then it would be time for the raid.

In the past few months, Fred had grown far more accustomed to the Dark Arts than he had originally expected. He had, with the passage of time in his training, actual grown to enjoy using dark magic. And while he didn't _enjoy_ torture, he was efficient at it, and had done it on multiple occasions. He could hold his own against Bella, at her full strength, for at least a few minutes, his record being seven minutes. All in all, Fred was quite changed from who he was only a few months ago.

Voldemort finally stopped talking and called for everyone to start disapparating to the village where the raid would take place. Initially everyone would be wearing masks, but about midway through, Voldemort would come and some of the Death Eaters would be allowed to take of their masks and reveal who they were, Fred was allowed to do so. The Dark were hoping that his reveal, as long as his family were there, which Fred knew most of them would be, would weaken moral and make the Light weaker, both getting them to call in reinforcements and making it easier for the Dark to take out a lot of the light.

Fred stood up, knowing that it was time, and put on his mask. Daphne did the same next to him. He grabbed her hand, she had agreed to side along apparate him, as he had never been to the village before, but she had. Around them people, Death Eaters, started to apparate. Fred braced himself for the awful feeling of apparation. When it didn't come, he looked at Daphne. She smiled at him, and got up on her toes. He was surprised when she kissed him on the cheek, brushing the mask out of the way, holding hers in her other hand, and whispered in his ear for him to be safe.

He had had feelings, romantically, for Daphne since, maybe halfway through the training, and apparently, hopefully, she had the same feelings for him.

She apperated both of them, still holding his hand. He quickly squeezed hers and let it go, it was time to fight. She went in the other direction as Fred, knowing that they would only distract each other.

Fred, when he saw that there wasn't any Order there yet, crossed to a house. All of the inhabitants of the village were magical, and would surely recognise the Death Eater masks. According to intelligence, one of the Order both lived there and had family there. It was only a matter of time until the Order showed up. He set the house on fire, just as many of his fellow Death Eaters did around him.

Only minutes later, Fred heard the crack of apperation, and tensed up, knowing that it was likely the Order. He spun around, not surprised to see the in-uniform robes of the Order. They had brought a lot of people.

A few of them, Tonks and Bill, his brother, ran towards where he was, he stepped forward to meet them. With his mask on, they wouldn't recognise him. It didn't escape his memory that technically his loyalty still lay with the Order, and he was therefore unsure of how to handle this.

Tonks, ahead of Bill, shot a quick succession of stunners at him, to which Fred threw up a shield and repelled.

At Tonks, he shot a stunner, and predicting where she would dodge to, another to her left, where it hit her. She fell to the ground, unconscious, and Bill ran around her, firing a multitude of spells at Fred.

Fred, gritting his teeth, fired another stunner, smiling grimly when it hit Bill. He figured that someone from the Order would come and eneverate them, but until then they would stay where they had fallen.

He walked up to where Bill lay on his back, ignoring Tonks when he came to her. Gazing down at his brother's passed out body, Fred felt remorse, but pushed it down, knowing that what he was doing was for the Greater Good. Bill would, will understand when Fred explained to him after the war was over. At least, Fred hoped so. If not he didn't know what he would do.

Fred continued to walk down the road to the center of the village, knowing from the yells and screams that that was where most of the fighting was going on. He passed fighting, but if the were Death Eaters were winning, and none of his family or friends on the Light side were in immediate mortal danger, he ignored them and kept walking.

He took out another few of the Order, stunning them when he could, and imperiousing them to run away when he couldn't, before Voldemort appeared. He didn't hear the sound of Voldemort's apparition, but heard his voice, magically magnified.

"To my Death Eaters, I command you to retreat, come to me in the plaza. Retreat, leave the Order where they lay."

Fred immediately did as the Dark Lord commanded, halting the curses he had been throwing at his opponent, John Dawlish of the Order. He made his way to the plaza, as did the other Death Eaters around him. The Order let them go, stopping the light curses they had been throwing, and generally followed them, from a distance, to the Plaza. Even they knew that something was going to go down.

Voldemort was standing in the center of the Plaza, his wand drawn and pointed at Dumbledore, who was in the same position, only yards from Voldemort. A crowd of the Order and Light fighters had assembled a short distance behind Dumbledore. In the crowd, Fred could easily spot most of his family. His mother, his father, Bill, someone must have found him, Charlie, and his twin: George. Fred didn't see Percy, and assumed that he either wasn't there, or wasn't with their family.

The Dark suspected that Ron was with Harry, no one knew where they were, though it looked like they had run for it, there had been a supposed sighting of them at the Ministry, just after it fell only weeks ago, but Fred wasn't sure he believed it. Why would they be at the Ministry?

Ginny was to young to be there, most likely at Headquarters still.

Fred followed his fellow Death Eaters to the crowd behind Voldemort, moving to the front, just behind Voldemort himself, just as he had been commanded before they left.

There was a nervous jolt in Fred's stomach at the thought of what would happen next. He would reveal himself to his family. He felt a hand take his, and looked to his side, not surprised to see Daphne's green eyes looking back at him out from behind her own mask. Earlier, days ago, Fred had confided how scared he was of showing his 'true' loyalties, not knowing if he could deal with the betrayal on his family's' faces, and the hate he would soon receive at their hands. He knew that even if the Light won that war, and they recognised that he had been a spy, they would never be the same, not after the heartache he would surely be causing them.

He tightened his grip on Daphne's hand, knowing that too soon, Voldemort would turn his head and ask for him, not by name of course, to come up, and reveal himself.

He shook his head, and returned his attention to the verbal match between the Dark Lord and Dumbledore, the leader of the Light.

"Well, Albus, I would like to call for a calm. A chance to talk."

Dumbledore looked at him, suspicious, but hiding it well, "And why would you want that, Tom?"

Fred could practically hear Voldemort's angry thoughts at Dumbledore daring to use his given name, but his voice was smooth, "Well, Dumbledore, many things have changed since we last talked. Aren't you curious?"

"Curious to hear more of your trickery? No Tom, I'm not."

"Indulge me, Dumbledore, I'm sure it'll be worth your time."

Dumbledore sighed, probably knowing that he really didn't have a choice, his own curiosity would win out, and nodded.

"Alright Dumbled-" Voldemort broke off as a red headed figure, Fred's mother, walked out from the crowd.

" _I_ don't care what you have to say to Albus, I want to know where Fred is! What did you do to him?" Molly yelled, clearly angry and perhaps heartbroken. When Fred went missing, to them at least: he had last talked to any of them three months ago, they must have assumed (as the Light so often did) that he had been taken by the Dark.

Well, he was with the Dark, so they were partially right, not in the way they would have liked, course.

Voldemort smiled his thin lips at her as Arthur grabbed her hand and pulled her back, even as she sobbed, fearlessly into the crowd.

"Well, Mrs. Weasley," he said her name mockingly, and the crowd of Death Eaters smirked or chuckled (Bellatrix, with no mask and away from the crowd at Voldemort's side, laughed loudly), even as the Order glared at them. "I was getting to that. Of course you know that we have more Death Eaters joining us all the time, new members are welcomed almost every week." a slight exaggeration, but the point stood. "And your, ah, son, had been lucky enough to come to his senses, and join me willingly. He is a credit to our cause. He was trained personally by Bellatrix, and he is, and will continue to be, a very good Death Eater in the making, I fully expect that he will rise to the Inner Circle within a few months. You should be proud." Fred knew that what Voldemort had said of him was very few facts, and mostly vague exaggerations, but still the Order believed it, and gasped, most shaking their heads in disbelief. Fred's family merely looked angrier, clearly not believing him.

Voldemort, probably seeing their looks of anger and disbelief, spoke again, this time slightly turning to the crowd behind him, "If you don't believe me, all you have to do is ask him."

Fred dropped Daphne's hand, looking at her again for encouragement, and stepped forward. He was now just a foot or so behind Voldemort, and he could feel all the eyes of the crowd on him, watching with bated breath. Bellatrix walked over to him, and Fred could feel her next to him, practically buzzing with excitement. Fred raised his hands, slowly, and took off the famed mask of the Death Eaters, revealing his face, that of his twin, and his coppery ginger hair. He smiled chillingly at the crowd in front of him, trying to show that he was not merely as unfeeling right now as he felt.

He found his family's faces.

Molly was looking disbelieving, but Arthur looked sad and resigned, why wasn't his father more shocked?

Bill looked like someone had told him Fred had died, both on the verge of tears and screams. Angry, sad and disbelieving, a dangerous combination that would prove to be. Fred had always been closest to Bill and George of his siblings.

George. George looked horrified, and Fred imagined that he would soon start to deny it, if he hadn't already at least.

Charlie simply looked determined, almost like he had been prepared for this. Remembering how prepared and pessimistic Charlie had always been when Fred was younger, and Charlie was at Hogwarts, Fred could believe that he would have been prepared for this possibility.

It was dead silence, before yelling broke out, and the fighting started again.

A multitude of curses were shot at him, as the Order, despite Dumbledore's yells not to, ran forward, at Fred or Voldemort, neither could tell. Fred shot darker spells than earlier, knowing that Voldemort would be watching him. He felt a figure next to him, and looked, unsurprised to find that it was Daphne, her mask long taken off, as all the newer Death Eaters had been instructed to do. He reached out his non dominant hand towards her, and she took it, fighting with her other hand.

Voldemort signaled for Fred to get to the back. The agenda right now was to get most of the Death Eaters out, and back to Malfoy Manor, where there were healers, or rather loyal Dark people who could heal, waiting. Fred would be, as planned, one of the last out, maximizing the time that the Light would see him, and that his betrayal would sink in.

Still holding Daphne's hand, be pulled her to the back of the crowd, pushing her behind him and away from the Order, because of the flying spells. They pushed their way to the back of the crowd, and once there, his family figuratively and literally behind him, he kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. He, in return, wrapped his arms around her waist, hesitant, but bolder when she kissed him harder.

After only about thirty seconds of kissing, that felt infinitely longer to them, the two broke apart, still holding each other. Each grinned at the other, breathless, but happy that their feelings were returned. Suddenly aware of the noises of the battle around them, the two, hand in hand, started firing increasingly darker spells at the still charging Light.

It was Daphne who started laughing in elation, it was their first real battle, and Fred soon followed. The number of Death Eaters was dropping as they disapperated, meaning that more and more beams of light were being shot at them. Less targets. With all of their energy in dueling, and all their concentration on holding their shields and firing in return. Neither of them noticed the two redheads that had snuck around them, and were pointing wands at their backs.

Charlie and Bill, having both had similar ideas and conspired together, had snuck around to both Daphne's and Fred's blind spots, wands pointed at them. On the slight chance that it was actually Fred, who they still cared about, even if he had betrayed them, and his girlfriend, based on their kiss, Bill and Charlie were planning on firing strictly non lethals, and hopefully knock them out.

Charlie nodded to Bill, and Bill nodded back. Almost in unison, they both yelled, "Stupefy!" at the backs of Fred and the girl he was holding hands with. Their already fraying shields cracked, and they both crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Running forward, ducking to avoid the spells of far off Death Eaters, who had paid attention too late, Bill grabbed Fred's arm, and Charlie grabbed the mystery girl's hand, and they both side along aperated their hostages out, and to the Order's headquarters.

Once at the headquarters, where everyone was already in disarray, Bill and Charlie both magically tied up their hostages, ignoring the shocked screams of the Order around them. It was not part of the plan to kidnap Death Eaters, that had never even be mentioned outside of a jest.

Fred and Daphne, both still unconscious and unaware, were soon moved to a secure, private room upstairs, and tied in back to back chairs. Both would be staring at walls when they woke up.

The Order decided that it would be easiest to wait for them to wake up naturally. So wards were set on the room that would alert Bill (he was closest to the room, and less likely to disturb others if they woke up in the middle of the night) if either of them woke up.

Molly was still at the Burrow, as was Arthur and George, currently unaware that Fred had been caught. No one was going to call or inform any of them until they were sure that it _was_ Fred, and not just a Death Eater, while the actual Fred was in a dungeon somewhere.

No one was sure if they wanted it to be Fred, knowing that he had betrayed them, or for it not to be and him, and for him to actually be tortured in a dungeon somewhere. The Weasley family were the least sure of all.

Hi. Ok, so yes, I did skip over most of Fred's training with the Death Eaters on purpose. Hope you enjoyed, :), so please review if you feel so inclined. Thanks for reading!


	4. Captured and Ready to Go

It was hours before Fred and Daphne woke up, and Fred woke up first. It was the middle of the night, not that he knew that. His first reaction was to look around as much as he could, after checking for his wand and not finding it, of course. What he could see was limited, and he was firmly tied to a hard backed chair. He felt a beat of fear make his heart jump. After weeks of learning how to make others feel pain, he was acutely aware of all the things they could do to him, few of which were pleasant.

When he stopped trying to break lose, he could hear footsteps coming from outside the room and breathing behind him. Choosing to ignore the possible threat approaching, and turned his neck, just barely able to see Daphne, tied up just the same as he was, and still passed out. Great. At least he was pretty sure that it was Daphne, it was practically pitch black in the room. But, no the hair pooling over onto his shoulder was definitely hers. Her breaths were too slow for her to be awake, he was alone. For the time being.

The footsteps coming from the direction of the door got louder, and Fred assumed that who ever had kidnapped him had put some sort of a ward on the room to alert them if they woke up, so there was little chance of just pretending to be asleep. If that were true, they were most likely on their way to the very room Fred was in. His heartbeat increased with, and he would never admit to anybody, fear. He and Daphne were both in very vulnerable positions, she wasn't even awake, if who ever had them hostage was hostile, they could be in trouble.

Fred hoped it was the Order, there at least people knew he was a spy (he had already given them, through Draco, information that Bellatrix or Rodolphus had let slip during training), and hopefully wouldn't let any harm come to him or Daphne. If he was lucky.

Fred saw the outline of feet against the bright light coming from out of the room, from underneath the door. The door opened. The bright light shone into the dark room, made Fred squint and then turn his head so he was staring straight ahead, looking at the wall.

The person entered the room, turning on the light, making Fred blink rapidly, and closing the door behind him. Fred glared at the man, still blinking and not quite seeing him clearly. Eventually, a moment or two later, when his eyes adjusted, he could make out who the figure was.

"Hi, Bill." Fred said calmly, smiling a little, knowing that it would only confuse him. While Bill was Fred's brother, and his actual loyalties were with the Order, chances were that the Dark would come and get them soon, and so he couldn't show that Bill was anything other than hated to Fred. It would be dangerous to both of them.

"Hello… I would call you Fred, but I'm not sure if that's who you are."

"Who else would I be?" Fred's tone was hostile. He, like most Death Eaters, didn't appreciate being taken hostage and tied up.

Bill raised an eyebrow, his face emotionless, seeing it Fred almost wondered how he wasn't in Slytherin, "You could be anyone, polyjuiced to look like Fred."

Fred laughed, in full Death Eater mode, "You could only be so lucky."

Bill looked at him with a hostile glare, and moved to look at Daphne, far out of Fred's view, "We'll find out soon enough." Bill's voice was cold, and Fred felt another prick of fear. Fred doubted that Bill would hurt him, if only because he might be his brother, but there was nothing to stop him from hurting Daphne, who would be just another Death Eater to him. Fred had no idea how far Bill would go, or what he would do. If he was half as angry and pained as he had seemed when Fred had shown his face for the first time at the battle, then there could be some problems. Dangerous, probably painful, problems. Bill's sadness, even the petty sadness experienced when they were kids, turned quickly to anger.

Fred swallowed thickly, feeling concern for the woman that he had befriended months ago, and had strong feelings for.

"Bill, what are you doing, don't you dare touch her!" Fred had turned around to better see Bill and Daphne, who was still asleep. Bill had pulled out his wand, and was pointing it at her face. Bill looked cold, and if he had been in black robes, perhaps even with a mask, and Fred could have, would have, believed him to be another Death Eater, getting ready to torture someone.

Bill didn't even look at him, just pointed his wand more threateningly at Daphne, eyes now turning and locked curiously on Fred. Fred started to thrash and try to break free of the restraints, but to no avail. Fred was still snarling threats and warnings at Bill, who was now looking at him with raised eyebrows, wand lazily still pointed at Daphne.

Fred imagined that he was getting pretty loud, because another set of footsteps, unnoticed by both Bill and Fred, fast paced was coming towards the room. The door opened, directing both of their attentions. Fred whipped his head around to see who had come in, and was surprised to see his mother.

Molly had tear streaks, long dried and bloodshot eyes. Even though she wasn't crying, it was clear she had been recently. She looked shocked to see him, staring at him. Fred glared back at her, knowing that he was supposed to hate her, but really feeling guilty beyond belief.

Bill quickly stood up and away from Daphne, and walked to his mother, trying to hide Fred and Daphne from her view, "Mum, what are you doing here, it's like, five in the morning, and who told you we had him?" he gestured behind him with his head to Fred. It was clear that a fight was going to break out, no matter how gentle Bill's voice was, when Molly drew in breath angrily, just as she did before she started yelling. Fred had turned to Daphne again, concerned both at what Bill might have done, and that she was still asleep.

His concern overwhelmed his desire to let Molly and Bill duke it out, as they were clearly going to do, and so he, still looking at Daphne, asked, "Why is she still sleeping?" The simplicity of his sentence seemed to speak for his concern, and who could blame him? She had been one of three people he had seen during his training (except for once when Voldemort came to check on their progress, and it had been four people), and one of his only friends among the Death Eaters. Now that he was a Death Eater, perhaps one of his only friends, not to mention that his family would undoubtedly turn their backs on him.

Yes, he was close to Daphne. He confided almost everything to her (obviously not that he was a Death Eater spy for the Order, whom she hated), despite only knowing her for a few months; They had grown close during training, both doing things to others they never thought they would, like torture. It was painful to torture even for Daphne, even though she had been born and raised on and with the Dark. As Fred had learned, most of her other friends, mostly from Hogwarts, had been neutral and hadn't joined the Dark Lord. And so they condemned her, from what Daphne said, without another thought, leaving Fred as her only friend.

Both Molly and Bill looked at him, surprised that he had said anything at all.

Bill cleared his throat and answered, "She woke up a few hours ago, but you still hadn't, so we stunned her again. She was very concerned about you. She wouldn't tell us her name, though, who is she?"

Fred blinked a few times, processing the information, "Daphne Greengrass" he replied distractedly. They had stunned her, again? After the last stunner simply wearing off? Did they have any idea how dangerous that was to her health? She could have serious problems staying conscious for days after this! If they had done it again, it was likely that she would have fallen into a magical coma (Fred only knew this, because as part of his Death eater training, he had been made to read several books on healing and health, at least now they were useful).

Fred glared at them, wanting to launch into a tirade about how that could have, and still might, hurt her, but, knowing that that was something he would have done as a Gryffindor and Light fighter, he pushed down the urge.

He was a Death Eater now, and like it or not, that had changed him. He was much more Slytherin now, if only because he had been trained and molded into a Death Eater, a notable number of whom are, and were, Slytherins, by a Slytherin. Bellatrix Lestrange, namely. He was still brave, sure, you had to be to be a Death Eater, but after seeing and attempting all of the awful ways to make someone scream, he had much more self preservation than any Gryffindor did.

He was unsure if his apparent change in character, from more Gryffindor, to more Slytherin, made him sad or not. He had been proud to be a Gryffindor, but being Slytherin in more ways than one, had its benefits, especially where Death Eaters were concerned. Especially if that Death Eater was a spy for the Light, pulling one over most of the Light and all but two of the Dark. It was helpful to be like a Slytherin, Gryffindor though he was, in a life like this.

It would probably save his life, if it hadn't already.

Bill glared at him, mostly in response to the glare that Fred was shooting at him. If Fred had had his wand with him, despite it being his brother and a person he was loyal to, Fred wasn't sure that he would be able to keep from crucioing him.

Blinking, Fred shook his head, that was a dark thought, even for him. Although he wasn't at all surprised by it, he had had Bellatrix Lestrange influencing his thoughts (If there was a way for him to hurt someone, she expected that he do it, and after facing her disappointment, he had done it, even enjoyed it) for the past few months, his only company Daphne and other Death Eaters who expected the same from him.

He felt shame slide down his back as he pushed down thoughts of torture and blood, especially the ones concerning Bill. He was his own brother, for goodness' sake! How could he ever expect -or even hope - for his forgiveness after the war when he was harboring such thoughts.

But, a little voice in the back of his head, probably Death Eater raised, fed and influenced, argued that no brother worth having would have threatened his passed out girlfriend like he had done. Or been the cause that said girlfriend was passed out, endangering her safety and health.

But it was Bill. Bill, who he had known his entire life, who he had always been close with. Who, despite the few years between him, had always helped him with homework. Who had, when Fred and George were older, been one of the few to know of the joke shop, and had helped them develop products, through letter of course.

How could he even think of wanting to crucio his brother, when Fred had first handedly seen the damage it cause one's brain and body. Did he really want that?

Right now, his emotions and Death Eater side of him wanted just exactly that.

His mother's voice jolted Fred out of his thoughts, "I don't understand why Fred is here. Is that even Fred?" his mother had, however improbable calmed herself down, and was thinking logically. It must be really bad.

"Of course I'm Fred! You people are just so determined to believe that I'm someone else, and that your precious Fred is in a dungeon somewhere, with the life bleeding out of him! No! I joined the Death Eaters, completely willingly, because the so called Light wouldn't know what it felt like to win, if the so-called Dark laid down and died!"

Bill glared at him, and raised his wand, clearly at the end of his emotional lengths, and this being the final straw, before Molly, starting to cry, engulfed him in a hug. Bill looked like he severely wanted to throw her off, but then his face crumpled, and he hugged her back.

Minutes later both left the room, Molly still crying, and Bill looking as if he was too, or would start any minute now.

They closed the door behind then, leaving Fred alone with a sleeping Daphne. With nothing to do, Fred tried to get out of his bounds. He tried to pull his arms towards him, and simply out from under the ropes, which failed.

He managed, after painfully pulling at odd angles, to loosen the knot on the rope that secured his right arm. Smiling to himself, he tried again to pull his arm out. It worked. His right arm was free, if covered in red, rubbed raw, irritated, skin. Quickly, heart beating, he untied the knot on his left arm, surprised at how hard it was. His hands were shaking, but eventually he got it. Both arms were free, and he turned to his legs and feet. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he got them off.

He stood up, shaking his arms and legs frantically trying to wake them up. They had fallen asleep, who knew how long he had been there. He shook his head in disgust, they had just left him there. Pathetic.

He turned to Daphne. She was limp in her bonds, still asleep. Looking at her, he noticed how pale and sickly she looked. Probably feeling some after effects of the constant stunners. Grimacing, he tried to wake her up, he shook her shoulders gently and began to undo her bounds. When he was done with both her arms, and moving on to her feet, she woke up.

With a start, tensing all her muscles, she sat forward.

"Uh! What- where- who? Fred?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's me. We got captured by the Order, shh." His voice had dropped to a whisper, and she blinked a few times at him before nodding and starting to untie the bounds on her other foot.

Just a few minutes later, Daphne was free. Fred and Daphne stared at each other, both equally unsure of what to do. Suddenly, both their heads whipped to the side towards the door. They could both hear the footsteps.

Quickly, Fred got behind the door, and Daphne sat back down in her chair, loosely putting the ropes back over her, so that at first glance she would still look tied down.

A few people entered the room, the open door just barely touching Fred who shrunk away from it, knowing that if it hit him and bounced off, it would be a huge give away.

Fred could tell from their backs that the people were Kingsley Shacklebolt, who knew that he was a spy, Remus Lupin, who knew that he was a spy, and George Weasley, his brother, who had no idea he was a spy, and hopefully it would stay that way.

Daphne turned her head, painful though it must be, so that she could see them, "Oh, fantastic, the bloody Order. How nice to see you again."

No one said anything to her, just looked around the room. Remus trained his wand on her, eyes distractedly looking around the room for him. Daphne, while he was still looking away, shot out her foot, that was untied, and kicked Remus in the knee, making him stumble. At the same time, she grabbed his wand, pointing it at him. He froze and grudgingly put his hands up.

Fred, now that no one was looking in his even remote location, with their wands and eyes trained on Daphne, came out from his hiding spot. No one noticed him right away, and he grabbed George, trying not to hurt him, in a choke hold. He grabbed George's wand, confident that it would work for him, from his relaxed hand, probably because of the shock of someone grabbing you from behind when you were already on edge. Fred, now holding the stolen wand, let go of George, and pushed him towards Kingsley Shacklebolt, who caught him and helped him up, glaring at Fred. Fred grimaced back, knowing that Kingsley knew that this was necessary, if unpleasant for all involved.

Daphne, not looking even slightly regretful, whispered, "Stupefy," still pointing her wand at Remus. He fell down, only stunned and unconscious.

It was silent in the room, Kingsley pointing his wand at Daphne, and both Fred and Daphne pointing theirs at him.

George was silent next to Kingsley, shocked. Everyone had told him that it was Fred, was his brother, and that he had the Dark Mark, and George didn't believe them. Looking at him now, George did, and he was slightly afraid of what Fred would do.

Fred, with his wand pointed at Kingsley, said, "Petrificus Totalus", and Kingsley went stiff as a board, before falling to the ground with a small noise.

George glared at them, and crossed his arms, as if he didn't know what to do with them.

Fred turned to Daphne and whispered, "I'll get him, and then we go." his voice was calm, though slightly gleeful. It was a dark situation and one Fred took small joy in.

Daphne nodded and moved to the door. Fred advanced on George, and grabbed him by the arm, putting him in front of himself. George left the room first, still secured by Fred.

George, not surprisingly, started to struggle, and Fred knew that if he continued it could cause problems, like if he managed to hurt Fred or grab his wand back.

Fred pointed his wand at George, and whispered quietly so only Daphne and George would hear him, 'Imperio'. A small green beam from Fred's want hit George, and he stopped struggling, his will, in the likely state of shock he was in, easy to manipulate and control.

George, Fred and Daphne continued out of the room, and down the hallway, Fred familiar with Grimmauld Place.

They came out into the living room, which was full of people, all looking grim and somber.

When they entered, everyone jumped and pointed a wand at them, whispers having broke out, even screams. Everyone looked alarmed, but still grim.

Fred grinned, picking up on the depressed mood of everyone, and putting up a front, "Whoa, who died?". It was really just a random question, based on how sad everyone was, but looking closer at their tear streaked faces, he supposed that he was probably right and that someone had died.

No one said anything, only pointed their wands at him threateningly. They were blocking the front door, the one that Fred had planned on going out. To get to it, they might have to fight their way out.

It was looking more and more dangerous to Fred and Daphne. Especially since two of the few people who were aware that he was a spy were unconscious on the floor upstairs. Unable to help Fred in any rational way. Completely and utterly useless.

 _For those that are wondering, the part about bad medical effects surrounding being stunned and allowed to wake up naturally is, I THINK, not actually in the books. If it is, and I'm being an idiot, please let me know it a review or PM. Thank you._

 _Secondly, I don't think that Bill would have hurt Daphne, he was simply lookin for a reaction from Fred that would prove, in Bill's mind at least, that 'Fred' was not his Fred and not his brother. Ultimately that the person in front of him was not his brother._

 _Thank you so much for reading. Please review, I really appreciate it to those who do. :)_


	5. Failed

**I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Alright, ladies and gents, here is the next chapter, it's a bit shorter than usual, so I will try to update quicker. I sincerely hope that you enjoy this one. Please review, because I love to get them, your feedback means a lot to me. :)**

Fred looked at the crowd in front of him, evaluating his options. If he just flat out made a break for the door, with Daphne, he would be intercepted, and would end up having to fight, something he didn't want to do with the Order. While he was sure that he and Daphne could fight all the people in the room right now and win, and it would probably end up more of a massacre than anything, but chances were that he or Daphne would get hurt. Not to mention that he didn't want to hurt the Order more than he already had, his loyalty wasn't to the Dark.

While he wasn't going to run forward, Daphne had other ideas. She stalked past Fred, and started firing curses at the Order. Fred sighed angrily and did the same, unwilling to allow her to walk into battle while he just stood there, no matter how stupid her decision had been.

"Stupefy!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Bombarda!" Daphne blew up one of the inner walls, thankfully not a weight bearing wall, throwing people into the air.

Tonks, who Fred hadn't seen previously, came running at him, and Fred quickly, barely responding in time, shot a summoning charm at the coffee table behind her, flinching slightly with a blank expression as it hit her. She fell to the ground, thoroughly knocked out.

Fred stepped over her, looking at the battle scene in front of him with horror, he had never wanted this to happen.

Distantly he heard people coming down the stairs only feet behind him and turned to look. Kingsley was running down the stairs, looking at him with pity and sadness.

"Stupefy!" Kingsley, still looking sadly at Fred, pointed his wand at Fred.

Fred had to jump to the side to miss it. While he would have been more than happy to get hit with the stunner if it was just him, he was here with Daphne, he didn't want her to get hurt while he was down.

He spun away from Kingsley, knowing that he wouldn't try again. Kingsley did know that he was a spy and would, if anything _help_ them to escape. With Kingsley at his back, Fred grimly rejoined the battle, showing off his recently learned Death Eater fighting skills.

Fred, throughout the battle, had been using mainly non lethals, albeit some darker that the spells used by the Light, but it was nothing compared to which hexes Daphne was using.

Bodies of the Order, dead or unconscious Fred didn't know or particularly care, dropped around her and as such, she was the main target. Most of the Order's hexes and curses were aimed at her, vaguely Fred wondered if the Order simply didn't have the guts to fire at him, since he was related to a Light family.

Fred didn't know when George had shaken of the imperious curse, but it was probably when the battle started as Fred's attention shifted to fighting off the Order. But George had stalked off, away from Fred, with no wand. Fred had no idea where he was, but soon found out he was right behind him. George had had to resort to muggle methods during the battle, and so he tackled Fred from behind.

Fred fell to the floor, with George on top of him trying to get a hold of Fred. It was a short struggle, ending when George grabbed the wand from his brothers hand. He pointed his recently reclaimed wand at Fred as he stood up, panting and glaring. Fred, with no other choice, rolled onto his back and put his hands up, glaring menacingly at George.

Fred had no idea of what George would do, but going by the furious expression on his face, Fred didn't really want to find out. He wasn't scared of George, he just didn't think that provoking him now would help him reconnect with his family when the war was all over.

Across the room, Daphne, missing Fred, looked for him and eventually found him. Seeing Fred's position only made her fight harder, but soon was overwhelmed with sheer numbers. Her versus all over the present Order weren't good chances for her. With a quick expelliarmus, her wand was lost to her and she was left with no choice but to put her hands up, which she grudgingly did.

It was dead silence before Fred stated breathlessly, "It would have been better for you to simply let us go. You will all regret this."

Everyone just looked at him, and Daphne started to laugh, even though she was panting and out of breath, red faced. Fred chuckled loudly, even though he didn't see the humor. The Order, at their loud, uncaused laughter, looked disturbed. Molly, who was standing near the back, started to sob, probably because of all the chaos her Death Eater son and his Death Eater girlfriend had caused.

No one moved for a few minutes, except for the people who were fixing the damage done to the house. There were surprisingly few casualties, Fred had expected more, he supposed many that he saw on the ground were unconscious. It was worth noting, however, that the ones that were hurt were hurt almost fatally. People had already starting with the healing, and many were pronounced dead.

Daphne and Fred were both still laughing, albeit quieter, though both stopped when they felt their marks burn. Their faces turned serious at the same time, and they looked at each other from across the room.

If they ignored it, and didn't go to meet the Dark Lord, assuming that it was a summons,the burning would get worse, until they were both screaming and writhing with the pain of it. If the Dark Lord knew that they were captured, as he probably did, then this was likely just a part of the punishment. Unfortunately for Fred and Daphne, it didn't look like the Order was going to let them leave, especially after the devastation and death they had both caused.

Daphne and Fred looked at each other, and Fred spoke, his voice croaking with the already intense pain from his mark, "You really need to let us leave, it'll be much worse for you if the Dark has to come get us." His breathing got heavier and sweat started to roll down his face.

The mostly still room looked at him (the injured had been moved to St. Mungo's, and the dead were in a different room with a good part of the surviving Order) with varying faces of incredulity. Many of them narrowed their eyes in either hostility or confusion at their progressively more ragged appearances as the pain took hold.

Daphne, on the other side of the room, still standing, moaned and sunk to her knees in pain, her right hand gripping her Dark Mark.

Fred's arm hurt worse than ever, and his sight was beginning to go hazy as he stared at a wall. He shut his eyes, and gripped his arm as well, biting back a groan. He rolled haphazardly onto his side, breathing still heavier and quicker than normal.

Minutes passed, and Fred thought he heard Daphne hit the ground, she had probably lost consciousness, just as he felt he was going to do any second. He pushed it back. The pain was worse than he thought it would be, but he refused to scream, knowing that that would only make it seem worse to his frazzled mind. Instead of screaming, he groaned again.

Fred's already hazy vision got worse as the pain did. He could barely see the figures as they stood over him, wands out, trying to see what was wrong with him. But they, no matter their intentions, would have no way of knowing that it was the Dark Mark, as it would have no actual negative effect on his body, except for agitating the pain sensors in his brain.

He felt himself start to go limp, but pushed back the black at the edges of his vision. Though it hurt, he didn't want to fall unconscious, that would be no use to anyone. Dizzy with pain, and mostly out of it, he tried to sit up, before giving up as the pain got worse and laid back down. He raised his left arm, still barely holding back a scream, and pulled down his sleeve, his pain crazed brain wanting to see the Mark.

It was raised off his skin slightly, swollen. The skin around it was a bright red, and the blood veins below it ran dark red, almost black. The mark itself was a jet black and vivid green, moving slightly, it was clearly unhealthy. Nothing about his arm was normal. Normally when he was summoned the Mark would only get darker, and the skin turn a light red. This wasn't him being summoned, it was a punishment.

Probably one of many too quick to come for Fred and Daphne.

When his Mark was revealed, the people crouched around him, mainly his family, recoiled with horrified gasps. Even they must know that it wasn't a normal looking Dark Mark. Even for a captured Death Eater. The Dark Lord must be furious at them.

Fred muttered, just before losing consciousness, heavily moving his face towards the unconscious and distant Daphne with closed eyes, "Well, Daphne, it's safe to say the dark lord isn't happy… not with us at least." Even though Daphne couldn't hear him, in fact the people closest to him could barely hear his tired whisper, not to mention that she was unconscious and across the room, he felt sure that she would have agreed.

With a final doomed pull at consciousness, Fred gave up and let the dark at the edges of his vision overcome him. The last thing he saw was his twin's face looming over his, an expression of angry concern on his face.

Fred was surprised that he still cared. Maybe the bonds of family were harder to break than he had thought.

 **Well, I hope you enjoyed. Please review. Have a great rest of your day. :)**


	6. Escape

_Hey, what up, people? I hope you are doing great. Sorry for the delay in uploading, but here it is, enjoy!_

Fred woke up, again, in a chair. He wasn't tied down, but Daphne wasn't in the room with him, unfortunately he also wasn't alone. The chair was in front of a small, four person table, and opposite him at the table, was Remus Lupin.

While Remus wasn't Fred's informatant in the Order, he was part of leadership, and therefore knew what Fred was to the Order.

Blinking sleep out of his eyes, and shaking his limbs to wake them up, Fred looked at Lupin. Lupin looked back at him, a neutral look on his scarred face.

Neither of them said anything, before Lupin cleared his throat, "How are you?" his voice was blank, loud in the unnaturally quiet room. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and with his head slightly turned down he looked at Fred.

"Fine." His voice was hoarse, reminding him that he had no idea how long he had been passed out, and how long he had been at the Order.

Lupin nodded, his face keeping its neutral expression. He leaned forward, closer to Fred, and Fred did the same, Lupin lowered his voice to a hushed whisper, "Now, Fred, we, the Order, needs to know if we can still count on you to do… You know what."

Fred blinked, knowing that the secrecy was for his benefit as the vagueness would make it easier to hide the memory from Voldemort later.

"Of course. I think I'd go mad as a _loyal_ Death Eater, hell, It'll be a miracle if I don't go insane as a… well, you know."

Lupin leaned back slightly, still with his elbows on the table, looking relieved. "Right then. With your insured loyalty, the Order is prepared to allow you and your friend-"

Fred interrupted, "Daphne."

"Right yes, you and Daphne, to leave Headquarters. But, however, it will need to look as if you two escaped, and I assume that you will want _Daphne_ in the dark as well about the true nature of your 'escape'."

"Yeah, she can't know of anything between me and the Order. She's a loyal Death Eater, for how long, I don't know."

Lupin raised his eyebrows, looking sceptical, "You think you can sway her over to the Light. If you're sure, well, to say the least, another spy would be useful."

Fred closed his eyes, thinking about it, and opened them a second later, nodding wordlessly. He hoped, he really did, that he would be able to sway Daphne. His faith was in the Light winning against Voldemort, no matter how dark things were looking now, and as such he didn't want her to go to Azkaban for the rest of her life when this was all over. If nothing else, she was a dear friend to him.

"Okay, so how are we going to 'break out' of the Order's Headquarters, we tried already and it failed if you hadn't noticed, Remus." Fred's voice was sceptical, and he didn't see how they would be able to pull it off.

Lupin smiled smugly, "We've got that all taken care of, Fred, you don't need to worry." Lupin sat back in his chair, looking satisfied. Clearly he and Kingsley already had a plan.

The next day or so found Fred locked in a windowless room, without Daphne, and with an armed guard outside of the room at all times. Luckily, for Fred, so far no one had made any attempts to tie him down or restrain him, something he was thankful for. He was just starting to prepare himself to enact the plan, when there was a knock at the door.

Fred looked up, startled, and unsure what to do. Normally, when Kingsley or Lupin came in they just opened the door, not bothering to knock. So, if it wasn't Order leadership, then who was it?

No one opened the door, but they knocked again, "Um… come in?" Fred's voice was hesitant, and he was nervous, not used to being this uncertain for this long.

The door opened to reveal his mother, Molly Weasley, and his father. Both of them looked upset, his mother more than his father. Behind them was George, looking like he had spent several hours crying.

Fred groaned silently, not happy to see them, it was only a few hours until his escape, why couldn't they just leave him alone to his misery?

Molly and Arthur both stayed within a few feet of the door, but George hesitantly approached his twin. "Hi Gred."

Fred snorted quietly, knowing that it would be safer for both himself and them if he drove them away from him. "Hi Forge." his tone was low and mocking, one that he had learned from watching Bella talk to prisoners before she tortured them. George flinched slightly at the tone, and sighed.

The inhabitants of the room were quiet, and Fred leaned his chair, at the table, back on two legs, waiting for the storm to hit and the yelling to start.

"Fred, I just don't understand why you would-" George sounded heartbroken, not joking like his usual self.

"Fred, we love you. Come back to the Light, I'm sure that Dumbledore would be able to-" his mother sounded hopeful, but tears were already brimming in her eyes.

George and Molly both talked over each other, but Arthur didn't say anything, which made him the one that Fred wanted to hear from most, but he knew that it would be condemning.

A few minutes later, and both George and Molly were looking at him, lost. Arthur had the same expression on, cold detachment. Fred was sure that he had already accepted what had happened, that Fred had turned his back on everything that Arthur and Molly had tried to teach him, that he was a failure and disappointment to them. That he had accepted it, hurt Fred worse than his anger would have.

It wasn't true that Fred had turned his back on them, Fred was sure of that and everything that he did, he did with them in mind. Even if it wasn't obvious.

Fred closed his eyes, and didn't say anything. He couldn't bring himself to cast them off, even though he knew that if he showed them he hated them, as it was expected as he was a Death Eater, they would be safer, and so would he. He steeled himself knowing that it had to be done.

"I suppose that you'll want to know why I've joined the Dark Lord, and become a Death Eater? Why I turned my back on you, and why I hate you as much as I do now?" Fred used the same tone, and it had about the same effect that it did on Bella's victims, judging by his family's expressions of pain, borderline agony

His family, though Fred was sure he couldn't consider them that for long, just looked at him, clearly at a loss. They must not have expected such straightforwardness from him. Fred wouldn't have in their shoes.

When no one answered him, he laughed, looking at them with a measured look. Suddenly a thought occurred to him, it would work.

Grimly he smiled, and put a hand into his pocket. He was still wearing the same clothes that he had been a few days ago at the raid, and when he had taken his mask off at the raid he had put it into his pocket. The mask itself was enchanted, as all Death Eater masks were, so that no one could have any hope of taking it from him, and if he had been wearing it, no one but him and the Dark Lord would be able to take it off. It was still in his pocket, which was magically bigger on the inside so as to hold it.

He let the chair drop back down to four feet with a loud snap. The others in the room jumped, not having expected the loud noise. Molly and Arthur were still standing in the doorway, although they had closed the door behind them, and the guard had resumed his post. George was closer, standing only a few feet from the table, and only a few feet more from Fred himself.

Fred carefully kept the mask out of the sight of his family, he wanted it to be a surprise when he revealed it.

"Well, if you really want to know. It was because of you. Away from you, I woke up and saw the truth. This world is sick, sick and the Death Eaters will clean it, help it, by freeing it of filth. Filth like muggles and mudbloods. If not checked they, like weeds, will choke out the very life of magic."

It was all blatant lies, but Fred had told them convincingly before, and now was no different. He said basically the same thing whenever asked, and had it down to a script. Based on the betrayed and horrified looks of his parents, and the shocked one of George, he had told it believingly.

Oddly, George's expression cleared, and he looked smug, if confused.

"You're lying." George sounded infuriatingly hopeful.

"Excuse me?" Fred's voice was soft, as if he really was offended, and his heart pumped faster.

"I've known you my whole life, we have the same face, for God's sake. I can tell when you lie, and you were just lying."

"I assure you, everything I said, was completely true." Fred had leaned forward, elbows on his knees, mask still out of sight.

"No, like I said, you were lying." George's voice was hopeful, though his eyes showed suspicion.

Fred narrowed his eyes, doing a good job of acting angry and offended, "How dare you imply that I _like_ muggles! They are filth upon this Earth, and I will do everything I can to wipe them off it! Them and their mudblood children of dirt!" his voice had lowered dangerously, and he kept his body language in check, knowing that George would be examining it.

Evidently he was convincing this time, because George's shoulders dropped, and he glared heatedly at Fred. Fred expected to fell triumph at convincing them, but only felt sadness and regret. Hopefully, someday, they would be able to forgive him for all he had done to hurt them.

George suddenly rolled his shoulders, and pulled out his wand pointing it at Fred. Fred showed no reaction, not scared of him. Arthur darted forward and pushed his wand arm down so that his wand was pointing at the ground. George let it drop after a moment, and closed his eyes, looking like he was going to cry.

It hit Fred how different he and George were now. Fred had been trained in pureblood etiquette, and knew perfectly well how to put up, as Rodolphus called it, 'the Pureblood Mask', or an expressionless face to hide your thoughts.

He was also extremely skilled at Occlumency, mostly thanks to Snape, and could hide things from even Lord Voldemort himself. George, if he hadn't already, would by the end of the war, know what it was like to either kill, or see someone die, both of which changed people. Fred would know, he had experienced both.

If things with the war ever cooled down, or the Light won, things would never go back to how they had been with Fred and George.

The war had changed them both too much.

Shoving those thoughts away, and thinking that now was a good time, he pulled his mask out from under the table, and put it on. Smirking that they couldn't see his face and that he could still see theirs.

When the small group of three saw the mask, they recoiled, and took a step back, Arthur pulling George back with him. If not for the horribleness of the situation, Fred would have laughed at their expressions of horror and fear-like terror. It was ridiculous, it was only a mask.

Minutes of silence passed, Arthur was glaring at him, George was still fighting off tears, and Molly was crying silently. Eventually they passed, leaving the room without another word to him. Fred imagined to get ready for the battle. As prominent Order members, and all but one of them over age, they would probably be getting ready for the battle. By Fred's vague sense of time, the battle was less than an hour away.

He settled back into the chair, taking his mack off and tossing it carelessly onto the table. Pushing the chair back, he reclined it onto two feet, and put his feet up onto the table, slumping down in the chair. He expected to be alone until the Order left for the battle, and then he and Daphne would be gone. He certainly did not expect to hear footsteps outside the door, and voices conversing. He looked at the door in time to see the large, heavy boots of the guard step to the side, and a pair of red tennis shoes come into view, before the door opened.

Fred didn't change his posture, still reclined in the chair, when Ginny stepped into the room, the door closing behind her.

For a moment neither of them moved, Fred examined Ginny's face, surprised to find that her eyes were red and puffy, suggesting that she had been crying. It took a lot to make Ginny cry, and the last time Fred could even remember her doing so in front of them was when she was 7.

Her voice was soft, eyes wide, "Fred?"

He could barely bring himself to mock her, but she would be safer if she had no hopes of him miraculously turning back to the Light halfway through the war. "Ginny?" he used the same tone that she had. He raised his eyebrows at her cruelly, and made a face at her.

She took a hesitant step towards him, and he noticed painfully that she had no wand. He pulled his feet off the table and let the chair fall back onto four feet, pretending not to notice when she jumped at the noise, clearly on edge.

He sighed, fight temporarily leaving him, "Ginny, why are you here?"

"How could I not see you, no one would tell me anything, always saying I was too young-"

"They should know better than to dismiss you like that." That was downright manipulation on his part. Building up her trust, lulling her into a sense of security, only to crush it. Nothing else would stop Ginny from trying to turn him back, something increasingly dangerous for him and her alike.

She smiled at him, relieved that she agreed with him and for something to take her mind off the Death Eater thing.

"I know it, I'm almost 17."

"Almost."

There was a small moment of silence, and Ginny broke it, a sad look on her face again.

"Fred, you're a Death Eater, aren't you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, cruelly, and responded slowly, "Why would you think that Ginny? Don't believe what Forge says, he's a liar."

"He's locked himself in his, your room really, and won't answer me."

"Did Angelina turn him down?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, sadness forgotten in her anger, "How can you joke about this, Fred, we all loved you. I loved you. And- and" her breaths were coming faster and faster in her haste and emotion, "Death Eaters, Fred! How could you?" tears had started to trickle out of her eyes, though her gaze remained clear as she stared at him, her voice oddly small as she finished her thought, "Did you really, willingly join the Death Eaters?"

He stood up from his chair, internally happy when she didn't flinch away, and grabbed the mask off the table, holding it to punctuate his point.

"Yes." his voice was cold, and stared at her mercilessly, anticipating her next question perfectly as she opened her mouth.

"Why did I join the Death Eaters?" he cut her off, and she nodded carefully, the tears in her eyes already replaced with righteous anger, flickering from his face to the Death Eater mask in his hand.

"You mean why did I join the winning side? It's simple really. Away from the _filth_ that is out parents, I woke up and realised the truth. We, just like all purebloods, are like gods on this Earth. The filthy mudbloods and muggles that rule it now are weak, waiting for us to take over. And take over we will. I won't rest until every single one of them are dead, their dirtied muggle blood drained from their worthless bodies, until the nights screams with their cries-"

His speech, one that he had essentially copied from Bella and Voldemort, was cut off by her footsteps coming towards him, and then the smack of her flying hand.

He had rarely seen her so angry, and never at him. He stumbled back, unsurprised at her reaction, and she stepped right up to him again, and raised her hand again, pulling it back and slapping him soundly on the other cheek this time.

Without another word or look at him, she turned her back and stormed out of the room. Slamming the door shut behind her.

He was sure that she was sobbing.

He put the mask on, hoping to hide the crimson spots on his cheeks that he knew were there. He was satisfied at having turned Ginny away from him, it would make the already peril fraught war safer for all involved. But he was still, regardlessly regretful, not to mention sad. He felt a strong urge to cry, but clamped it down. He was as strong as any Death Eater, except he had retained his values and moral code, even if he had to keep it hidden. He wasn't going to cry.

Not now, not ever.

A half hour later, he heard the sound of portkeys, apperation, and the floo. They had left. As planned, the guards on his room, and the one on Daphne's down the hall, left to go downstairs, assuming that the doors were locked.

In reality, the doors of both Fred and Daphne's rooms, were not locked, as Lupin had put a ward on the room that allowed it to be open from the inside, but needed a key from the outside. Everyone was hoping that the Dark would take this as pure accident or carelessness with the wards, so that there would be no suspicion when Fred and Daphne returned to the Dark.

As Kingsley had informed him, the Order's spies, like Draco and Severus Snape, had all informed them that there was going to be a battle at Diagon Alley. The Light, of course, couldn't leave until after the Dark had done some damage and someone had alerted the Light. If the Order was there waiting for them, the Dark would know that there was a spy, something that was dangerous knowledge to the spies.

The Order had just left for Diagon Alley, leaving Headquarters almost empty. Just a handful of lower ranking wizards and witches had been left behind to defend Headquarters, and alert the Order in the unlikely event that it was attacked. As the Dark couldn't get into Grimmauld Place, there was next to no chance of that happening, at least not in this raid.

Also left behind, was everyone who could competently heal. But according to Lupin, who had informed him of the plan and goings on of the war, the Healers would be on the other side of the house, closer to the fireplaces, so that if anyone had to be transported to St. Mungo's it could be done quickly. All in all, there were about twenty people left in the house, and with most of them in the other side of the large house. Ginny, who was still underage, would have been left behind, and Fred was confident that she was sobbing in her room, which was the Burrow. Molly wouldn't have wanted her to see the state of the people coming back from the battle.

The plan was for Fred and Daphne to sneak out, while the headquarters were practically abandoned, and rejoin the Dark. All in all, Fred was rather hopeful that they would have a good chance of getting out unscathed.

He opened the door, slowly because it creaked. Thankfully the guards were long gone and didn't hear the quiet creak. He stayed in front of the door, and closed it, his arm twisted back behind him and the door hitting his back.

He took a deep breath and followed Lupin's directions to the door.

 _To the right of your room, down the hall, first door on the right._

He walked down the long door, and found the first door to the right. Standing in front of it, he looked around nervously. Lupin had told him that no one would be there, but he was still nervous, it would be disastrous if anyone found them this early on in the escape.

Finding no one in sight, he turned the door knob slowly, hoping that Daphne wouldn't freak out on him. Gently he pushed open the door, mindful that it might creak. It opened soundlessly. He walked in, unsurprised to find Daphne sitting at a table and chair similar to the ones in his room. She got to her feet, looking relieved to see him, and joined him at the door.

"Fred."

He shot her a lopsided grin, "Hi Daphne. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, you took your time in getting here."

"Oh, I'm sorry, the Orders only just left," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, but smiling nonetheless. She rolled hers in return, laughing at their half hearted joke.

Wordlessly they grasped hands, and Fred lead the way down the hallway. He glanced at his room as they passed, realizing that if he had made a different choice, and hadn't joined the Death Eaters, he never would have been held captive there. He also wouldn't have met Daphne.

He and Daphne slowly went down the stairs that the hallway lead into. There were two guards, wands out, standing a few feet from the end of the staircase. They had to be silent, and simply hope that they would only be noticed when it was to late for the guards to stop them.

Once only a few steps from the end of the stairs, Fred rolled back his shoulders, and ran down the rest, and launched his momentum filled body down the stairs, colliding with both of the guards and knocking them down. They were too surprised to make much noise, and before they could yell, Daphne was jumping at them and grabbing their wands. While the first guard was wandless, and Daphne was stunning him, Fred tried to grab the wand from the other. He yelled, and Fred succeeded in getting the wand from and silencing him, but it was to late, he had yelled, albeit quietly.

Quickly, Fred and Daphne ran into the closest room, which Fred knew was the main Order meeting room, while levitating the motionless bodies of the guards with them, closing the door behind them. Fred and Daphne both stayed completely still, listening against the closed door for sounds of people running towards them. Luckily they didn't hear anyone, and Fred imagined that the yell hadn't carried over to where everyone else was.

Daphne, while Fred was guarding at the door, with the stolen wand from one of the guards, cast a summoning charm for her wand.

To Fred's genuine surprise, it flew out of a nearby drawer and into her hand. He tried the same charm for his wand, and was happy when it flew into his hand. Looking at Daphne, he snapped the wand he had been using, stolen from the guard, and Daphne did the same, tossing the pieces onto the ground carelessly.

Now that they had reclaimed their wands, both were intent on leaving the Headquarters as soon as possible, but Fred was going to stick to the plan.

Dumbledore had, at Kingsley and Lupin's insistence, created a bunch of fake papers, and hidden them in the only unlocked drawer in the meeting room. The plan was for Fred and Daphne to grab those papers, and bring them to the Dark Lord.

Daphne started towards the door, ready to leave.

"Wait Daphne, this is the Order's meeting room. Why don't we look around, first? We have time, they've only just left." Fred called softly after her, his voice carefully quiet. He, without waiting for her answer, started trying to open the many drawers. Only one of them would be unlocked, and it would have the papers in them. Daphne looked at him, annoyed and impatient. She was still near the door, not moving to help him, but was still waiting for him.

Finding the drawer, he opened it and quickly grabbed the thick stack of papers, and, not pausing to look at them, shrunk them and put them carefully into his jacket pocket.

He walked calmly back over to Daphne, when she looked at him questioningly, he rolled his eyes and said, "I'm sure the Dark Lord will be happy to have them anyways."

She nodded in response, suspicion immediately dropping from her.

They cautiously left the room, and Fred lead the way out, as he knew the Order headquarters well. They went out the front door, knowing that it was only warded to keep people from coming in. Once out on the streets of muggle London, they simply disapperated. Knowing, and not caring, about the abundance of muggles, and the fact that Ministry officials would show up and try to trace them. They would fail, and the Order would probably later get blamed for it.

Once on the grounds of Malfoy Manor, the main headquarters of the Dark, both hesitated, wondering if they should go in and see the Dark Lord, without a summoning though it would be. They were already facing punishment.

After a short discussion, Fred suggested going to Lestrange Manor, and letting the Dark Lord call them. Daphne gladly agreed, saying that she would be happy to see Bella and Rodolphus again anyway. Grasping hands, though both of them knew where they were going, they apperated, leaving only an echoing crack in the air behind them.

Lestrange Manor, unusually, was silent. There were no people, and the still air had no carrying voices in it. It was empty, devoid, it seemed, of life. After only minutes of searching fruitlessly, Daphne grew impatient, and with pursed lips, called for her favorite houself.

"Missy!"

A short crack later and the elf appeared in front of Daphne, looking joyed to see her.

"Young Miss, you are back! Missy is so happy to see you. But, you were gone, captured by the evil Light, it is most impossible that you are here. But even so Missy is happy to see-"

Daphne cut the poor elf off early in her rant with pursed lips, clearly impatient. Wasting no time with pleasantries, she questioned the elf, "Missy, where are Bellatrix and Rodolphus, why aren't they here?"

The little elf's ears drooped sadly, and she visibly looked worried, "They are at the raid of course Miss. In Diagon Alley. The Dark Lord called them both for the fight against the evil, hideous, hateable light. And rise to the call they did, to defeat the Light which so wrongly have control of this world, with their shameful behavior."

Missy continued to talk of the evils of the Light, and the need to vanquish them all, but both Fred and Daphne tuned her out, instead looking at each other, without another word to the elf, Fred and Daphne turned and walked to the door. Behind them the elf stopped talking mid sentence, and apperated away.

Outside, Fred and Daphne apperated again, ready to fight. Neither of them were in Death Eater garb, the Order having given then a change or clothes, but knew that a fight would be the perfect way to prove their loyalties, and to meet back up with the Dark.

Besides, the Order knew who they were and there would be no doubt of which side they were on. Fred bit his lip, wondering if he would have to strike down one of his family. Albeit, they had probably disowned him by now. Fred smiled a humorless smile, dreading both the future, and hating the past.

But he had volunteered for this, so he would do it. And do it well he would.

 _Right, so hope you enjoyed. Feel free, and I encourage you to, drop me a review or PM with comments or questions. Have a great day! :)_


	7. Forgiveness:

_Without any ado, chapter 7, folks:_

The battlefield, though still full of yells and shouts of wizards and witches, was littered with a fair amount of bodies. Fred dropped Daphne's hand, and looked at her. He felt an urge to kiss her, her hair was blowing in the wind, and her body already tensed, ready to fight. She was beautiful. Without so much as a second thought, he leaned down, only feet from her, and connected their lips.

She was surprised, not having expected him to do this, much less on a battlefield, but after a moment's hesitation she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down closer to her. He walked in closer, right in front of her now, and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned into him.

After a second, they both pulled away, gasping for breath. Daphne smirked at him, and he smiled back, arms still around each other. He pushed his forehead against hers, nose to nose, eye to eye. They were both breathing equally hard, and the battle seemed faint in their deaf ears.

Suddenly, a jinx of some sort, flung from the battlefield which they were on the edge of, hit Fred in the leg.

Daphne, reacting immediately, pulled away in shock and pointed her wand at him, "Prior Incantatem!"

The slight pain in his leg faded, he didn't even know what curse it had been. Daphne looked at him, eyes wide, surprised, and he looked at her with love. A beat passed, and both Fred and Daphne turned to the battlefield, ready to fight. While Daphne would fight for the cause, as it was one she believed in, Fred would fight for her, and that any death he dealt to people who were once his friends, or were still his family, would be worth it for her. Or so he told himself to sooth his conscience and calm his mind. He would do what had to be done. No matter where his true loyalties lay.

The battle was long, lasting well into the night, and even though Daphne and Fred had only been there for part of it, they were exhausted. Fred had sustained minor cuts all along his arms, and a curse, Fred suspected a sectumsempra, along his stomach had torn open his robes and produced a large, vertical gash, stretching from right below his heart, to just above his hips. It hurt terribly, and was still bleeding heavily, despite being inflicted less than half an hour ago. He felt lightheaded, and looking at his blood drenched robes, only some of which wasn't his, put it up to blood loss.

However he was more worried for Daphne. She, like Fred, had minor, though deep, cuts all over her arms, which were steadily trickling blood. She also had a large cut on her cheek. It stretched diagonally from her left eye, down to a few inches below her ear. It was still bleeding heavily, and Fred had had to guide Daphne to where the Dark was gathering to portkey out. Fred was unsure that Daphne would be able to hold onto the portkey, and so wrapped his arm around her when the portkey left.

Fred, fortunately, hadn't met any of his family in mortal battle. He had, quite temporarily, engaged with his twin, George, who had seemed to make it his personal mission to track down Fred. George was angry. Not that Fred could blame him, he had done everything in his power to make it seem as if he had truly turned to the Dark. Fred knew that George's hatred for him would help him to survive, but the raw hurt and fury in his eyes almost made Fred regret it. Almost.

The portkeys took them to Malfoy Manor, which seemed to be Headquarters. Fred and Daphne, unsure what to do, and if the Dark Lord would call them or not, decided that medical attention would be the best route to go. There were 'medics' who were healing the injured Death Eaters. Seeing Daphne's faint expression, and the blood, from her cheek, that soaked down the front of her black robes, nearly invisible, but still wet and recently bleed, made Fred gently grab her arm, and pull her to the front of the masses, intent on getting her medical attention.

He snagged some bandages from a table and held them up to her face. She gave him a glare and grabbed some more, pushing them heavily into his stomach. Fred had almost forgotten about that wound. Magically he stuck them to his wound, most of which had scabbed over.

Minutes later, still barely at the front, Fred's Dark mark unexpectedly stung. He was being summoned. Based on the sharp gasp from Daphne, and her quick, but weak, movements, she had been summoned as well.

Fred felt anger bloom in his chest. Daphne was in no condition to meet the Dark Lord, she was weakened already as it was. From what he knew, she had gotten her cheek cut only minutes after they had first arrived, and had held a cloth there for most of the remainder of the battle. Despite this, it was still trickling blood, and even when in clotted, she often moved her face, upsetting it enough to bleed copiously again.

It was amazing she was still conscious, and she was certainly in no condition to do anything but sit down and have it treated, much less meet with the Dark Lord himself.

But they were Death Eaters. Death Eaters, Fred figured, served their Lord over themselves, and Daphne was a loyal Death Eater.

Fred and Daphne walked down the hall briskly, knowing that it was where he would be, in the large study previously used by Lucius Malfoy, but taken over by the Dark Lord just after the Manor was used as Headquarters.

They reached the solid oak door all too soon. Fred and Daphne stood outside it nervously, both of their hearts beating vigorously. Sweat trickled sickly down Fred's back. He clenched his hands.

Daphne raised her hand to knock, unsure what else to do. Fred quickly pasted an expressionless expression on his face, knowing that his face would be examined. He would not go down simply due to a slip of the face. He was here to stay.

The door opened before Daphne had knocked even more than once. At the door, holding it, was not the Dark Lord, as Fred had expected. It was ridiculous to think that he would open his own door without magical aid, and at the door instead Bellatrix Lestrange.

Fred blinked and before he had time to look at her closely, a voice within the room called them.

"Weasley, Greengrass. How nice of you to finally join us." Lord Voldemort's voice was cold, calculated. Even so, stepping into the room, Fred could see how the anger glimmered in his eyes, if only because of his lack of attempt to hide it.

Fred swallowed, but straightened his back and squared his shoulders, walking carefully and quickly to the Dark Lord. He was sitting at a large, ornately decorated throne like chair of silver and green. The room clearly would have a desk, but most likely as it currently didn't suit the Dark Lord's purposes- which were undoubtedly to torture Daphne and Fred into forgiveness- the desk and accompanying chair had been vanished in favor of the one he was in.

Fred quickly walked, with no hesitation and quick, short strides to the Dark Lord, he immediately kneeled in front of him and bowed his head, studying the shoes and floor in front of him. Fred, unlike many a Gryffindor he knew, wasn't too proud to bow. He had however, had to unbend quite a lot of his pride in the beginning, during his training. He was used to it. Not to say that even a simple kneel and bow of head didn't burn him up with anger on the inside, but Fred was a well trained and practiced at occlumency, and kept that anger deep inside him for fear it would betray him. It was crucial he was not discovered, for his own sake, for there would be no mercy given to a traitor Death Eater, and for the sake of the war.

Moments after him, Daphne did the same, kneeling beside him

Moments passed, Bella still by the door, which was now closed, with Rodolphus, who Fred hadn't noticed but Daphne had, at her side.

The entire room was still, as if waiting. Fred barely dared breathe.

"Hmm, Weasley, how _nice_ to have you back. You have been missed, I'm sure."

Voldemort's silky voice was all the warning Fred received before his mind was ripped open and viewed at the Dark Lord's leisure. It was easily the most painful thing Fred had felt, and he was sure that he was screaming, but it never reached his ears, he was too far involved in his head. He had to hide the more treacherous memories, such as discussing with the Order's leaders.

Vaguely aware of the Dark Lord's invading presence, he shoved those few memories to the deepest pits of his mind, knowing that to do so was a skill hard developed, one of the highest forms of Occulmency, that Voldemort would never assume he had. Indeed the difficult skill was painstakingly taught to him by Snape, which was a far cry from pleasant. Snape was one of the few people, according to Draco, who had the skill in the country, at least that he knew of. Although, Fred had thought, if you could hid any and all memories at your very core, you wouldn't exactly bandy it around.

Almost as soon is the mind wrenching agony had come, it was gone. Voldemort studied Fred, who had somehow retained his kneeling position. Breathing heavily with anger and pain, but bowing his head all the same. His throat was sore, and Fred knew that it was probably from screaming himself hoarse, even if he hadn't heard it, involved in his head though he was.

The mind invasion, Fred knew, had probably lasted only a minute, or even less, but nonetheless, it had been hell to say the least.

"Very well, Weasley. The papers?"

Of course, Voldemort had seen Fred 'steal' that papers from the Order as he and Daphne fled. Although Fred was confident that he hadn't seen the accompanying story.

Reaching into his coat, where he had tucked the papers, he shakily handed them to Voldemort, his head still bowed.

After a few minutes of dead silence in which Voldemort perused the papers, he nodded crisply.

"Very good, Weasley. You will be rewarded for this, after of course you are punished." Fred could hear the evil smirk in his voice, and resisted shivering. He nodded, but kept his eyes and head bowed as he said, "Thank you, my Lord." He hoped he had injected the right amount of obedience and gratitude into his voice, knowing despite the soon to come punishment, he was expected to be grateful.

Evidently he had seemed honest, because Voldemort turned to Daphne, done with him for now.

Her screams were awful to listen to. Voldemort repeated the same process of examining her mind that he had done to Fred. Fred knew that she would have nothing to hide, and that the Dark Lord would surely forgive her, but that did nothing to soothe the worry and fury he felt when listening to her agonized screaming.

But there was nothing to do. So he waited for her pain to be over, with his his eyes screwed shut, and resting his chin on the bend knee.

A minute later, he was done examining the contents of her mind.

"Greengrass, I trust nothing like this will happen again? You will stay out of the Light's grasp at all costs. No loyal Death Eater can be trusted if they are captured at every chance."

"Of course, my Lord." Daphne's voice was stronger than ever, though with a slight wobble to it. Fred was suddenly overwhelmed with admiration for her. She was so strong despite the ordeal she had just been through, not to mention the physical exhaustion she must be feeling after the battle and their stressful capture.

"Now, you both must be punished, think of it as a deterrent from capture again."

As if they needed it, thought Fred, but was unable to push down the mounting dread and fear. Any punishment from Voldemort would be hell to pay.

Then it was finally over.

Daphne and Fred's punishment had lasted at least half an hour. It ranged from the cruciatus curse to Dark curses that cut them open.

Fred, though he hadn't been a Death Eater for long, had seen a few Death Eaters after a punishment from the Dark Lord, and suspected that the Dark Lord had held back.

Bellatrix and Rodolphus, fulfilling what Fred suspected was their only purpose in the room, took them from the room. Minutes later, out of the house, and with a portkey, took them to Lestrange Manor.

Daphne had lost consciousness, and Rodolphus carefully carried her into her room, where a healer immediately began to work on her.

Fred, as he could still walk, was escorted by Bellatrix, who sported an uncharacteristically worried look on her face, to the healers waiting for him.

In his dizzy mind, laying on a bed, healers buzzing around him, he heard Bellatrix yelling at them, demanding that they heal him immediately. He almost smiled, clearly, after the months he had spent with Bellatrix and Rodolphus, they had grown to care for him and Daphne.

Just before he passed out, he saw Bellatrix's face, a maternal look in her eye, similar to the one that Fred's mother had often had when he was sick.

Oh, the irony, he thought. The reputed ruthless Death Eater, had motherly concerns for a Death Eater, Order spy, who had injuries inflicted by her precious Lord.

 _Really hoped you enjoyed. If you did, drop a review, :). Also, if you found any errors, grammar or otherwise, feel free to tell me. :)_

 _Have a great day!_


	8. Revelations and Regulus Black

_Thank you so much, if you are one of the people who reviewed, followed, favorited, or read this story so far, it means a lot to me! :) Enjoy the next chapter of Out in the Open:_

Fred woke with a start, sitting up in bed suddenly, throwing the sheets off him in his temporary panic. The room he was in, his usual room at Lestrange Manor, was totally devoid of life, other than him of course.

At first, Fred was confused, but then it all came back to him. The battle. The punishment. The promise of reward from Voldemort.

He bolted out of bed, his first thought of Daphne, and the less than healthy state she had been in last he had seen her. He ran out of his room and into the hall, only in pajamas, and knocked hurriedly on Daphne's door. Her room was across from his, on the other side of the hall, only feet from his door.

There was no answer, and Fred tried the handle. It was unlocked. His worry left no room for hesitation, and he opened the door hurriedly. There was no one in the room.

Her bed had clearly been slept in, and it was still unmade. The room had a slight smell similar to that of a hospital, probably the healers had worked in her room, just as they had done to his.

Pursing his lips, worry still quickening his pulse, he briskly walked, borderline ran, to the main room of the house. There was no one there. Fred began to worry not only for Daphne, but the other two in the house. Why was no one there?

Standing still in the main room for a moment in his confusion and worry, Fred heard muffled voices and laughter coming from his left. The dining room, or course!

Fred turned to his left and half jogged, half ran to the dining room. As he got closer the voices got louder. He could make them out now. One was definitely Daphne, and the deep one was probably Rodolphus. The cackle he just heard undoubtedly was Bella's.

He entered the room, no longer as worried as he had been before hearing them.

They were sitting at the long, dark wood table that dominated the room. Clustered together at one end, they were all eating what Fred presumed to be breakfast.

He felt instant relief upon seeing them, especially Daphne, but the others too. They looked to see who had come in, obviously having heard both the door and his hurried feet. Daphne smiled, and rose to get up, but when she saw Bellatrix getting up she sat back down. Rodolphus nodded at him, uncharacteristically grinning, a far cry from his usually reserved attitude and facade. However, if Rodolphus was acting out of character, Bellatrix might as well have had a personality transplant. She walked to Fred, and hugged him, exclaiming over him, and how worried she had been, and how never to get captured by the Light again or anger the Dark Lord and get punished, or she would kill him herself.

Fred was rather amused, and imagined that after years of being cold and cut off with everyone beside her husband, who she obviously loved, her maternal instincts must have been pouring out of her, only nobody got close enough to see or experience them. That was, of course, until she became Fred's mentor. A Fred who, for all she knew was practically orphaned, and had been living with filthy blood traitors for all of his life. How could she she not see him as a son? She had taught him how to be a Death Eater, for months. After all, being a fearsome and useful Death Eater was something that she took great pride in. And, in her eyes at least, she had passed it onto Fred, to carry on her legacy just as a child would.

As worried and anxious, to say the least, Fred was about his present and future on the Dark side, not to mention his family's future on the Light, he was, perhaps, more so happy and even content with his time with Daphne. Every day, it seemed, despite the increasingly heinous acts he committed as a Death Eater, from maiming and killing, to meticulous torture, to kidnapping targeted Light, he grew closer and closer to Daphne, and even to Bellatrix and Rodolphus.

As the weeks passed, Fred grew more and more tempted to simply abandon the Light side, and what he saw more and more as an increasingly futile resistance to change.

Whether the change that Voldemort and his faithful Death Eaters were trying to bring about was evil, was in no way up to Fred to decide. How could him choosing to have a family, make the world safe for said family, even if it meant crushing the side of his parents and siblings, including his twin, and to grow old, possibly be evil? With Daphne as at least his best friend, and hopefully something more that would result in children, and Bella as his sort of adopted mother, and Rodolphus as a dad, albeit one who acted as a brother, he could definitely see himself raising a few Death Eater children and growing old, all as a faithful follower of Lord Voldemort.

But still, despite the temptation that this thought carried, the thought of his mother and father, on the Light side, everyday fighting to halt the future that he was envisioning, indirectly of course.

He could never do it.

No matter how much it burned him up inside, to possibly leave Daphne, to hurt her with what he was doing, what he had always done.

She was devoted to the cause. He saw it in everything she did. The things Death Eaters, including them, did sickened her just as they did him.

 _Fred hurried into the room after her. Not pausing the catch her Death Eater mask and cloak as she threw them away from her in both disgust and haste. Currently she was running to the bathroom on the far side of her room, trying to keep Bella and Rodolphus from knowing of her reaction._

 _Her reaction was, after all, not one that any Death Eater would have. Especially not one that had been born and raised on the Dark, as Daphne had._

 _She threw the narrow bathroom door open and, not stopping, ran to the toilet, dropping to her knees, hands clamped firmly over her mouth._

 _Fred followed her, mind only half there as he held her hair back. He was still mostly thinking of what they had both just been doing._

 _It was their first actual mission. This was different from fighting. Fighting, even in a full on battle instead of a raid, would have been far more preferable._

 _Daphne and Fred had been assigned to first kidnap someone from the Order. The Dark Lord had given them a few people to choose from, as all would have access to the same information they needed, and he didn't care which: Mundungus Fletcher, Remus Lupin, or Minerva McGonagall._

 _Obviously, as both he and Daphne had been taught by McGonagall and known her since they were both, respectively, 11 years old, neither wanted to kidnap, torture and kill her. Not to mention, as Fred pointed out, she was too stubborn to give them any information. At least, Fred hoped not, and so he told Daphne._

 _Remus Lupin was heavily involved in Fred's spying, and one of the few who knew of it, so for reasons of his own, that he could hardly tell Daphne, he didn't want Lupin to die. Not that he wanted anyone dead._

 _However, many find that with the Dark Lord ordering you to kill someone, those select people sound a lot better dead._

 _Daphne, as Lupin was her favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, no matter how how useless she thought the subject was, she didn't want him dead, much less to kill him, and remembered him fondly. In her own words, he was one of the few teachers not to be prejudiced against Slytherins and treat them no differently._

 _So, of the three, that left them with Mundungus Fletcher._

 _Fred had meet Fletcher multiple times during his time with the Order. Mostly he remembered him as bailing out during moving Harry after his birthday. Fred blamed him for the death of Mad Eye, as did most of the Order. However, according to a few of the Death Eater spies in the Order, due to the lacking amount of people in the Order, in order to simply get things done, they had accepted him back into their ranks._

 _Allowing the spineless worm back into their ranks, who had quickly become the weakest link, would be their downfall. The information Dung would give them, willingly or under torture, could very well end the war. Or so Voldemort seemed to hope. For better or for worse. Assuming, of course, that Voldemort's spies were right and Dung had information worth having._

 _Hopefully, this would end the war and Fred could tell the Order what Dung said and they could hit the Dark in a way they didn't expect or prepare for. Thus ending the war._

 _Maybe. Probably not, but Fred was desperate for this all to end. One way or the other. He would be fine on both, and he might be able to protect a few of his siblings if the Dark won._

 _It, months ago, would have sickened Fred to be thinking of the war like this, in such a calculated, manipulated, Slytherin way, but he had to. If only to fulfil his role as spy._

 _Daphne and Fred, after days of planning and watching Dung, and finally initiated their plan, and kidnapped him. Everyday that they had watched him, Dung and a friend of his would loiter in Diagon Alley and sell the odd trinkets they picked up._

 _Fred had, without much persuasion needed, gotten Bella to inconspicuously take out the friend the same day, and isolate Dung, though he was too stingy to simply leave for the day, no matter how suspicious he might be._

 _A quick distraction by Daphne, and a side along apparition in a deserted alley later, and Dung was unwillingly present in the dungeons of Lestrange Manor._

 _Both Fred and Daphne knew what was expected of them to do. Voldemort had assured them that there would be no need for him, or his body, only his information. The gaps that Voldemort had left were filled in by Bella and Rodolphus, who were only trying to help them, not that Bella didn't take glee in telling them exactly what to do._

 _They, Fred and Daphne were to torture Dung until he cracked and told them what they needed to know, or rather until he was defenseless enough and Fred could use leginimancy and steal the information from his mind._

 _Voldemort had been very vague about what he meant by information, and so Fred simply assumed that whatever Dung had would be fine. He hoped at least._

 _After many hours in the dungeons, always with Dung, Daphne at his side, and sometimes Bella and Rodolphus, Dung had cracked._

 _Fred had done most of the torturing, knowing that Daphne, no matter what she tried to tell herself and him, didn't want to do it. Fred was an efficient torturer, to say the least, no matter how repulsed he was at it, and this was hardly his first time in the dungeons, if hopefully his last._

 _Now, after Dung had cracked pitifully, he was dead. Just a bloody mess of ripped skin and broken bones, recognisable by his face, bloody and blue though it was. Fred had asked Bella to take care of the body, and she had, telling him what she had done with it after she came back, while Fred, Daphne and Rodolphus were eating dinner._

 _As it turned out, she had dumped it outside of Grimmauld Place, which was still the Order's main headquarters, but not the one that Fred reported to. She had been a Black, and even though she couldn't get into it, see it, or say its location, she had a vague idea of where it was, and put Dung in the general place. One of the Order would find it soon enough, now all that was left to do was report to Voldemort, probably the next day when summoned for the monthly meeting._

That had been a week ago. Voldemort had been pleased with the information from Dung: vague Order plans, a hint at their goals, their members, a few safe house locations, and the knowledge that the Order had many more hidden with the Fidelius charm.

Voldemort had finally rewarded Fred for getting the papers while he and Daphne were escaping from the Order, and that combined with Dung, and he had been promoted to the Inner Circle.

Bella was thrilled, beyond so even. Rodolphus looked pained, and Fred suspected that he knew that Fred was a spy, or at least not a happy Death Eater, but Rodolphus quickly covered it up with pride. Fred was sure that he was sure that he was the only one who had seen it, and made a mental note to talk to him about it later if he got the chance. That could be a potentially bad situation, though he was loathe to admit that he deeply trusted Rodolphus. He hoped that wouldn't be his downfall.

Reporting to the Order had been awful, he was a disaster, his hair a mess, his Death Eater mask still clasped on his head, and Death Eater robes wrinkled, and bloodstained. Blood that had, hours ago, been in Dung's body, a body that was now lifeless.

He had first numbly told Remus Voldemort's orders, how they had kidnapped Dung, and then sobbingly told him the rest of the sad tale. Finally, furiously, angry at himself and the Dark Lord, he had told a thunderstruck Remus how he had been promoted into the Inner Circle.

Finally, with a burning drive for revenge, and a renewed anger at the Dark, allegiances now firmly with the Light, he told Remus what Dung told the Dark, and left, not waiting for an answer.

Later that night, Rodolphus sought him out, alone. Bruntly asking, with no introduction, and his usual stoic looking face, if Fred was a traitor.

Fred, seeing no point in lying, had simply nodded from his chair, putting his book away, but drawing his wand closer, hoping that he wouldn't need it.

Rodolphus nodded, and tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling, before starting to laugh. Fred looked at him as his laughs grew louder, and more bitter.

"Oh, you remind me so much of Regulus."

Fred's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, having no idea who Rodolphus was speaking of, "Who?"

Rodolphus hesitated, looking Fred square in the face, and sighed, his shoulders drooping slightly, almost unnoticed by Fred, "You met Sirius Black right? Harry Potter's Godfather?"

Fred nodded, envisioning the long dead man in his mind.

"Regulus was his younger brother. He was, in his own words, everything Sirius wasn't, though he said it in jealousy at the time."

Fred blinked, not having known that Sirius had a brother, and wondered why he had never seen the man on either side, nor even heard mention of him. Sirius had died young, and his younger brother would certainly be alive still.

"He was a Death Eater, joined when he was young, just out of his sixth year."

Fred picked up the heaviness in his voice, and raised an eyebrow. "Was?" People didn't simply just stop being a Death Eater, taking the Dark Mark was a promise of life devotion, it was a life contract.

Rodolphus nodded, eyes on the floor. "He betrayed the Dark Lord. He told me, days before his death, that the Dark Lord had a secret, one to terrible to continue serving him. I think he was trying to go to the Light, and either one of the Light killed him, or the Dark Lord found him on his way out and killed him."

Fred was thunderstruck for a minute, wondering what had happened. It was apparent from the bitterness in Rodolphus hoarse voice that he and Regulus had been close friends, and even after all these years (Regulus had joined in the first rise of Voldemort, and killed before his fall) that he still mourned him.

There was a short silence between them, as Fred processed and Rodolphus reached a decision that he should have decided on decades ago.

Rodolphus walked to the armchair next to Fred's, and leaned over its arm, looking intensely at Fred. "Fred, I don't want the same to happen to you. No one, not even a Death Eater, deserves to die estranged from their family, and with their body in a shallow, unmarked grave... or worse."

What followed was intense arguing, during which Rodolphus tried to get Fred to go into hiding, from both sides if need be, and finally a planning session of how to bring down the Dark from the inside.

It had never been more apparent to Fred, that Death Eater or not, Rodolphus was one of the better people in life.

 _Again, thank you all so much!_

 _If you found any errors or inconsistencies, please tell me, I really appreciate it. Have a great day, and week._


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys. So, so sorry that this took so long to put up. I've been so busy lately. School just started and there was a death in my family, and we had to drive across the country for the funeral. :(**

 **I thought that I did it a few days ago, but it didn't work... so here we are.**

With a snap, Fred woke up, nightmares again. This time it had been Dung, again. He had actually killed him only a week ago, and dreamt of him almost every night. Remorse constantly filled him, he had done so many awful things as a Death Eater. Fueling it, was that often, in the spur of the moment, during those heinous acts, he had felt happy. If only for a moment before horror set in. Even so, he could be happy as a Death Eater.

But no, he was firmly, if not obviously, on the Light side.

He knew, from a Death Eater perspective, that the end of the war was creeping ever closer. Voldemort said weeks. Bella agreed wholeheartedly. Rodolphus, on the other hand was more sceptical, and said at least a month.

According to Lupin, the Order and Light were optimistic that the final battle was approaching, and that they would win. Voldemort was relying on the surprise of the Order when they saw how many followers he had, easily into the hundreds, but, thanks to Fred, Draco and Snape, the Order were all well acquainted with the number, and prepared for it.

The Order was not so secretly banking on the Dark Lord being killed, presumably by Potter, Granger, and Fred's youngest brother. Looking at the past, Fred thought that Harry held a fairly good chance, or so he hoped.

Sitting up, he groped around on his nightstand, and grabbed his nearby wand. Yawning, but having no hope of going back to sleep, he summoned the book he was currently in the middle of. Unsurprisingly, it was on charms, though during his time in Lestrange Manor, he had read many books of varying topics. Even some fiction.

Hours later and dawn had broke, the new sun shining light into his room through the blinds on the window, and he was still reading peacefully. He had finished the book an hour or so ago, and unperturbed he had simply grabbed another one. His reading was interrupted by an elf popping into his room, her ears nervously twitching.

"Master Lestrange has, has requested that you, sir, that you meet him at- um, Malfoy Manor, sir." The house elf's stammering voice surprised him, and he knew that it must have been Death Eater business, the elf wouldn't have been as nervous had it simply been a cordial meeting with the Malfoys.

Jumping out of bed, he dismissed the elf, and quickly dressed in his standard Inner Circle Death Eater robes. Not missing a beat, he quickly grabbed his wand again, and the silver Death Eater that inspired fear in so many people. Quickly leaving the room, he briskly walked to the sitting room, and flooed to Malfoy Manor.

Stepping out of the fireplace at Malfoy Manor, he wasn't surprised to see another, different House elf waiting for him.

"Mr. Weasley, sir, you are needed in the sitting room. Mr and Mrs Lestrange and Mr Malfoy urgently await your arrival."

Fred nodded, and without further prompting walked undirected to the sitting room, he had been at Malfoy Manor too many times to need help finding the room. Before he entered even, he was unsurprised to hear raised voices. When Death Eaters gathered without Lord Voldemort present and a clear, objective mission, it was rare that physical fights didn't break out.

Opening the heavy doors, and entering the room dramatically, he was shocked by what he saw. To the far side of the room, tied up, was who Fred recognised as his brother, and Harry Potter, the third person that he couldn't see in detail, he assumed to be Hermione Granger. Around them, a safe distance away despite their helpless forms, were clustered Snatchers.

If no one else in the war, he hoped that the Snatchers were punished for everything they had done. All of them, no matter how many there were. At least Death Eaters believed in the cause, while Snatchers were simply there for the money. It was disgusting, and Fred would know disgusting.

On the other side of the room, Bella was standing with her husband, a restraining hand on his arm. Rodolphus himself was red faced, and shouting at Lucius Malfoy, who was also red faced, and gripping his cane with a flushed fist and white knuckles.

Wasting no more time, and satisfied that no one had seen the shock on his face when he was the Trio, except for possibly Harry or Ron themselves, Fred walked, borderline ran, to Rodolphus, supporting him over Malfoy without even having to know the problem.

Everyone turned to look at him, hearing his footsteps, and quieted, temporarily Fred was sure.

"Ah, Fred, finally your here-" Bellatrix was interrupted by her husband, who had turned his glare again to look at Lucius while Bella looked at Fred.

"Get that look off your face, Malfoy!"

Lucius had seen Fred, and as he usually did when in the presence of any Weasley, turned or not, sneered. Rodolphus had, having developed a sort of brotherly relationship with Fred, taken immediate offense, and raised his wand again at Lucius. This again prompted Bella to drag his arm down, whispering in his ear, and sneering at Lucius, who glared at her and snarled back.

Fred, hoping to quickly diffuse the issue, stepped between them, pushing back his anger for Malfoy.

"Gentleman, gentleman, surely we can push aside our issues, and turn our attention to the other, dare I say, more important problem in the room." Fred's voice was confident and assured, if somewhat sarcastic, mirroring the one he used when selling things at the shop with his twin. The one he and his twin used in perfect complement of each other. Fred held back a wistful sigh, and glared at Malfoy, not even jumping when Rodolphus put an hand on his shoulder and, both glaring at Malfoy, directed him to the other side of the room, where the apparent hostages were awaiting attention.

Fred was hyper aware of the location of every Snatcher in the room, of Malfoy following them and Bella, as they neared the hostages. He had little idea what to do now, and was simply hoping that an opportunity would present itself. He was confident that if it turned to a fight he could get Rodolphus to come with him, as he knew of Fred's traiorism, and that Bella would go with Rodolphus. Ideally.

When their party was only feet away from the kneeling, tied up, prisoners, Bella grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him down to their level.

"Now, Fred, be honest, is that your brother?" her voice was brimming with excitement, and looking at her, her eyes were bright, if slightly worried. Fred wondered if Rodolphus had told her what he knew of Fred's true loyalties. He imagined that he had, if he was in Rodolphus' place that was what he would have done, he knew that Rodolphus and Bellatrix, while in an arranged marriage, had grown to be good friends and loved each other.

He examined Ron's face, already sure that it was him. Ron glared at him, no surprise on his face, only sadness and anger, he had obviously already been told of Fred's betrayal.

"Well?" Bella's impatient voice cut across his thoughts, he looked at her.

"Yes." His voice was barely a whisper, and a hoarse one at that.

"And next to him, Harry Potter?"

Her voice was a whisper, only Fred and the hostages could hear it. Fred swallowed, knowing that this was the moment of truth. What did Bella know?

"Yes." the whisper barely reached her ears. Despite his swollen face it was obvious he was Harry Potter. If nothing else, and there was plenty else, the fury and betrayal in his eyes when he glared at Fred gave him away.

Bella looked at him, wide eyed, and fear in her eyes. Fred looked back, holding her gaze for a moment. She took a deep breath, at a loss of what to do.

She stood up and pulled Fred with her. She walked carefully with him over to the last prisoner. Hermione.

They crouched down again, Fred sweating copiously.

"Fred, what are you going to do?" her whisper was practically silent, for his ears only, though Fred thought Hermione heard it. He leaned closer to her, under the act of examining her face. He pulled away.

"Yeah, it's Hermione." then lowering his voice to a whisper again, and looking a Bella, he said, "I'm not sure if I know yet, I have a bit of an idea. Importantly, don't let them call him." Bella blinked at him, and she nodded. Before plastering an eager, if fake, smile on her face, and looked at him excitedly. It almost fooled Fred, but he knew that her current face was false, just an act, a front.

Fred stood up boldly, having a vague idea of what to do, he turned around, robes billowing dramatically.

"Lucius, how secure is this room?" Fred said in a sharp voice, knowing that Lucius might not even answer.

Lucius looked at him, scowling, and snorted, clearly not going to answer.

Fred waved his wand menacingly, stalking forward, but Bella beat him to it.

"Malfoy! Did you not hear him?" Bella screeched, as she stalked towards him. She got up in face, and he didn't move, staring her down, "How. Secure. Is. This. Room?"

He glared at her, and Fred thought he wasn't going to respond, until his creaking voice answered, "Very. No one can apparate in or out. And the room was locked after… Weasley, entered. No one can get in or out without my permission."

Bellatrix stepped back and the room was silent as she looked across the room at Rodolphus, who already had his wand out and at the ready.

Only Fred and Rodolphus expected what happened next.

Bellatrix, faster than a snake, honed with years of practice as a Death Eater, aimed her wand at Lucius and knocked him out.

Rodolphus, a little quicker on the uptake than Fred, spun around and attacked the Snatchers.

"Stupefy!" Rodolphus stunned one of the four Snatchers right away.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Another one fell, but the other two had gathered their wits and attacked Rodolphus.

Fred, quickly attacking one of the Snatchers, was shocked when the Snatcher didn't immediately fall. Instead he fired a counter attack.

"Stupefy!" Fred tried again to stun him, but it was avoided.

"Bombarda" the Snatcher, unlike Fred who knew Harry and the others were by the Snatcher, had no inhabitations.

Fred flung himself to the side, narrowingly avoiding the spell and the subsequent explosion of a side wall.

Bella, while the Snatcher was distracted by the explosion, stepped forward and shot a quick avada kedavra at him, smirking when it hit him dead on in the chest.

Fred smirked too, not at all sad for the death of a filthy Snatcher.

While Fred was attacking the Snatcher, Rodolphus has stunned the last Snatcher. The room was finally still and silent except for their ragged breathing and muffled cries from the still gagged and tied up Golden Trio.

Fred stood up, and brushed himself off of dust and small pieces of rubble from the explosion. Rodolphus and Bella were staring at each other, clearly at a loss of what to do. Fred took charge and walked to the Trio, taking in their confused looks and struggling figures. He rolled his eyes, there was no way that they could get out, the ropes were way to tight, typical Snatchers.

Quickly, with his wand, he cut the ropes. The Golden Trio were free and Harry grabbed Hermione's arm gently and pulled her back with him, putting as much distance between them and the Death Eaters. Ron on the other hand, as soon as he was free to stand up, walked over to Fred quickly and punched him as hard as he could in the face.

Hermione shrieked, clearly not expecting that, and Harry glared at Fred.

Fred stumbled back, not losing his balance, and lifted his hand up to his face, groaning slightly. He felt blood trickling down his jawline, and feeling his nose figured that Ron had broken it. Behind him Bella and Rodolphus pointed their wands at Ron, who put his hands up but kept his eyes on Fred.

Fred raised his hands, whirling around to stop Bella and Rodolphus from attacking Ron, as he was sure they were going to do.

"No, no, Bella, Rodolphus, chill. I'm sure I had it coming." He glared at them until they grudgingly lowered their wands.

"Now, what do we do?" Rodolphus asked, knowing that his wife had mainly headed the action, and would be the one most likely to come up with a plan.

No one answered, and Fred finished mopping the blood off his face, giving up when more replaced it.

He straightened up when he felt a burning in his left arm. The Dark Lord was calling him. He whirled around to look at the other two Death Eaters in the room, and was unsurprised the find them with semi panicked looks, and Rodolphus was examining his Dark Mark.

"We need to leave." Fred said, his voice nasally and off from his broken and bloody nose.

Everyone had heard what Lucius said about the wards and locked room, and as such had no idea how to get out. Bella took command, and walked to Lucius, who was still stunned, and quickly obviated him, hiding his memories of the trio being there, and their most recent Death Eater betrayals, deep in his mind. He was sure Voldemort would get them out of Lucius' head, but in the meantime they would be safe.

Rodolphus walked over to the Snatchers, and did the same to each of them, "Obliviate."

That done, Fred pondered what to do, starting to pace in agitation. His Dark Mark burned, and he knew that the Dark Lord would soon get impatient.

"Okay, okay. We need to leave. The doors are locked, no apperation." he turned to look at Bella and Rodolphus, "We're screwed." Fred was panicking, which was surprisingly out of character, and pacing increasingly faster, his wand clenched in his hand.

He stopped pacing, the saving idea suddenly coming to him. "Missy!"

The small elf apperated in front of him, and the Golden Trio gasped, Hermione starting in with her indignant mutterings of elf freedom. Ron shushed, and Fred pushed down a laugh of elation at her sharp, but incoherent response. He was joyed, and tipped his head back to laugh, ignoring the incredulous looks of his fellow Death Eaters and Golden Trio.

Rodolphus gasped, catching on the the brilliance of Fred's plan. "Missy, can you apparate us out of here?"

Missy nodded, "Of course sir, I'm an elf."

"Okay, okay, where do we go?" Fred asked the room at large.

Ron, looking only at Harry and Hermione, spoke up after a moment of silence, "We could go to Shell Cottage." He turned his head slightly to look at Fred.

Fred, in return, raised his eyebrow, "Auntie Murtle's place. Is it secure?"

"Of course, Bill and Fleur live there."

Fred curled his lip, knowing that that would be a fun talk with Bill. But he nodded nonetheless.

"Right, Missy, I want you to apperate Harry, Ron and Hermione," he gestured at them and the elf's eyes flickered to the three and then back to Fred as he continued talking, "to Bill and Fleur's, Shell Cottage."

The little elf nodded and walked over to Harry and held out her hand to him. He took it and Ron and Hermione followed suit, both putting a hand on the small elf's arm or hand.

"Missy, you do that and then you come back here for us, as quickly as possible." Fred said, breathing heavily again from the pain slowly growing in his Dark Mark.

Missy apperated away, and Rodolphus rushed over to Fred, eyes wide, and grabbed his shoulder.

"Fred, Daphne!" he sounded panicked, horror struck.

Fred tensed up automatically, knowing that it was nothing good, "what about her?"

"The Death Eaters- when they find out we've, you especially- have gone rouge, she'll be the first one they go after. Your affection for her is -was- no great secret." Rodolphus finished, and Fred gasped, floundering for a quick solution.

The pain in Fred's arm grew almost too much to bear, and he wondered if the Dark Lord knew, or suspected what he was doing. Black spots danced over his vision, but he forced it down and put on a normal facade. He would not appear weak.

Missy apperated back, her hand towards Bellatrix, ready to apperate them as well, "Misters Weasley and Potter and Miss Hermione have smoothed over the situation at the cottage and they're ready for your arrival now si-"

"Missy!" Bella interrupted what was sure to be a long speech on Missy's part excitedly, her eyes blazing, with pain or excitement Fred didn't know or care. "Go and apperate Daphne here, now!"

Missy looked startled, but did aperated away. A minute or so later and Missy apperated back, holding the hand of an annoyed Daphne.

"Fred, what is this about? Missy didn't tell me anything, except that you needed me- is that blood on your face!?" Her voice was alarmed as she cut herself off, looking at his broken nose and the blood it had resulted from it, in anger and worry.

"Sorry Daphne, no time to talk, we have to go," Daphne opened her mouth angrily while glaring at him, and made to let go of Missy's hand, "No! Don't let go of her hand, we're leaving anyways."

Fred took Daphne's hand, smiling slightly at her worried and furious, mostly worried,facial expression, and Bella and Rodolphus grabbed onto the elf's other hand. A snap later that left a ringing crack in both their ears and the air, and Fred felt the awkward sensation of apperation, like being it through a pipe just to small for you, but yet not painful. He opened his eyes to see the beach nearby the small cottage he had often visited as a child with his siblings and parents.

Clustered outside he could see Ron with Bill and Fleur, following them as they marched towards them. Harry and Hermione were talking to Missy, whom they had called over to them after she apperated Fred and the others there. No doubt they were curious about how she was treated at Lestrange Manor. But whatever they thought was probably wrong, Missy was treated perfectly fine, even if Bella did intimidate her.

The last thing Fred saw before he passed out were Daphne's concerned eyes looking at him. And then everything was black, and he felt himself fall to the ground before he blissfully couldn't feel anything.

 **Hope you enjoyed. Please review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys. So. I got 2 reviews on the last chapter, so you all get an update! Keep in mind that everyone lives feedback, including me, so... review! If you review with questions, then I will answer them. So, y' know, review. It means the world to me.**

 **HUGE, huge thanks to Son Of Whitebeard ( for reviewing. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that.**

 **I don't (surprise, surprise) own Harry Potter. No matter how much fan fiction I might right, it just isn't gonna happen**.

Blinking back into consciousness was painful for Fred, his arm still hurt, though not as much as it had before, and he felt prying eyes on him even before he opened his eyes. When he did open his eyes and slowly sit up, he was surprised to see Bill sitting in a chair to the side of the bed Fred was in.

Fred sighed, looking at the wand gripped in Bill's hand, and the book face down on his lap. It was clear that Bill had been in the chair for hours, waiting, or perhaps guarding, Fred until he woke up. "Hi, Bill."

"Hi, Fred." Bill's face was expressionless as he spoke, annoyingly giving nothing away.

"Before you say anything, you should call Remus."

Bill's eyebrows knitted together in bewilderment, "Remus Lupin? Why?"

Fred waved his hand carelessly, leaning back down into a lying position, "He'll explain everything. Come back when you have."

It was silent for a moment, as Fred heard Bill get up and leave, closing the door firmly behind him. It was quiet, as if no one was in the house, before Fred heard a small rustling sound and a whoosh. A few seconds of silence later, and Fred heard the sound of the floo sounding. The vague voices he heard were sharp, surprised, so the guest was clearly welcome (no one was screaming), if not expected. Next Fred heard feet bounding up the stairs, coming closer and closer to the room they were in.

Bill came in, holding his wand in his hand, and resumed his seat, having missed the floo. He had only been out for a minute.

The door opened to show Remus Lupin, holding his wand and looking shocked and worried.

"Bill, I got your Patronus."

"Thanks for coming so quickly."

There was an awkward silence as no one knew what to say, and Fred felt both of their pairs of eyes on him.

"Bill would you mind leaving while I talk to Fred-" Remus asked carefully, trying not to give away his concern for Fred in his voice.

"Don't bother. My cover will soon be blown, if it's not already, as soon as the Dark Lord looks at Lucius Malfoy's memories. I doubt the memory wipe will hold."

Remus looked at him. Bill looked at him. There was a small second that Fred didn't think either would say anything. They both talked at once.

"What do you mean cover?!" Bill said loudly, looking at Fred before turning to Lupin when he stopped talking.

"Memory wipe? On Malfoy? Why?" Remus said looking intent on finding out.

Fred looked to Remus, ignoring Bill for the moment, "When Harry, Ron and Hermione were brought in, Malfoy, who was sort of heading the thing at his house, called me, since Rons my brother.

"Obviously, I didn't want to tell Malfoy who they were, but I told Bella. Bella, from Rodolphus knew what I was, and knew that I was hardly going to just let the Dark Lord get called."

Fred took a deep breath, knowing that this is where their arguments would cut in, he could see the questions on their faces and was thankful that Remus had the sense to shut up and get Bill to too. "So Bella stunned Malfoy, and me and Rodolphus took out the Snatchers."

"Wait, like Bella _trix_ and Rodolphus _Lestrange?!_ The mass murderer Death Eaters?" Remus asked looking sceptical and suspicious.

"And that's why you brought them here?" Bill asked, looking pissed.

Remus turned his head suddenly to look at him, "They're here-!"

Fred cut them off, "Yes, yes, yes. Bella and Rodolphus turned traitor too, saving the lives of Potter, Granger and my brother, thank you very much. Might I remind you that Potter is instrumental in the war effort and hopefully its ending?"

Bill and Remus nodded, looking, at the very least, bewildered. Bill looked confused still, but Remus's expression cleared and he motioned for Fred to continue with his story.

"Anyway, so Bella, Rodolphus and I took out Malfoy and the Snatchers, who were the only others in the room. We untied the Golden Trio, Ron punched me. Hermione, Harry and Ron then sulked, leaving everything useful to me and the Lestranges.

"Then we felt our Marks burn. I think it was just the Dark Lord calling a meeting and summoning the Inner Circle, but when we didn't show up, he upped the intensity, which is why I passed out. Then we obliviated the Snatchers and Malfoy, but the Dark Lord will still find the memories, leaving my cover to be blown. Fabulous." he threw his arms up slightly in the air in mock despair and grinned, showing the jokester he still was. Hopefully would always be.

He let his arms drop, and sighed before continuing his story, "Then we summoned Missy," they looked confused, so he elaborated on Missy, "The house elf, to take the Golden Trio out, to here at Ron's suggestion, and then to get Daphne, as she would be a target to the Death Eaters for being friends with me and trained by the Lestranges, who will be seen as traitors. And apparate all four of us left, the Lestranges, Daphne and me, finally out of Malfoy Manor."

As Fred finished, there was a silence in the room. Neither Remus or Bill seemed to know what to say, and Fred figured that in a moment they'd collect themselves enough to ask questions. A second later when Bill spoke, Fred knew he was right.

"Wait, hang on a minute, so Fred was… is… was a spy."

Remus nodded and both ignored Fred, something he was vaguely indignant about.

"For the Order."

Remus nodded, looking grim. He probably expected the next question from Bill, Fred sure did.

"Then, why couldn't I, the rest of his family, be in on it? Do you know how hurt my mother is? Not to mention George." Bill's voce, so hesitant had grown angrier and brasher as he caught onto the whole thing. That Remus had clearly known, and that Fred had purposefully hurt his family, when he wasn't even really a Death Eater.

"Now Bill, you have to understand. Fred was putting himself at risk in a way few of us can understand, the less that you knew of it, the safer he would be in the long ru-"

Fred ignored Remus's well reasoned explanation, and looked at Bill himself, square in the eyes, challenging him. "Voldemort was looking at you guys. My main 'reason' for joining them was you guys, and I had to pretend that I hated you, wanted you dead, or worse. To hurt you. So he watched, and made sure I had that chance.

"It was instrumental in gaining his trust, and rising to the Inner Circle, which in turn gave the Order a lot more information."

Bill looked at him, anger and sorrow in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Fred said quietly, knowing that more than an apology was necessary.

Bill didn't say anything, and stood up. He looked back at Fred before he left the room, taking into account the true pain in Fred's eyes and body language. His eyes softened slightly. "I'm calling Mum. You can explain to her yourself."

Remus sighed, hating to see the conflict that he felt he had had a hand in. It was him, after all, that had helped keep the secret from the rest of the family, watching as they suffered quietly.

Bill left, and neither Fred or Remus filled in the silence that followed. Fred, who was sitting up in bed, legs folded and loosely covered with a blanket, put his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. His hands were sweaty, the hairs on his arms standing up. He sighed again. Swallowing a few times, before sitting up straight and pulling a blank expression as if from nowhere, and holding it up to his face. He heard the floo sound, Bill probably leaving, and sat up straighter, striving to seem collected. He was, unfortunately not.

He felt his breathing increase. He noticed suddenly that his nose was healed.

He wished Daphne was here. The floo still hadn't sounded again, he hoped it would be awhile before they arrived, and knowing Bill, he wouldn't straight out tell them, so it could take a while.

He looked at Remus, who had taken the seat Bill left, and was politely, or shamefully, looking at the ground.

"Where's Daphne?"

Remus looked up, startled, and blinked a few times. "W-who?"

"Daphne Greengrass, my girlfriend? She came here too."

"No idea."

Fred felt his heartbeat pick up, and stood up quickly. Of course Remus wouldn't know, he had just got here. But one thing was for sure, and that was that Fred did certainly not trust Bill.

He stood up, sweat breaking out on his forehead, growing panicked and worried for his girlfriend. Who knew what could happen to her under the care of a hostile Order of the Phoenix.

Nothing he wanted to find out.

He walked from the bed, mind focused now on only one thing: finding Daphne.

He stood out in the hall for a second, listening and looking around, vaguely recognising the house as one he had played in as a child. It was, or had been, his Auntie Myrtle's cottage. Shaking his head to hopefully clear it of annoyingly intrusive and irrelevant thoughts, he moved to the nearby guest rooms.

The first one was empty. He grew more worried.

The second one was locked. He searched his pockets, for the first time realizing that his wand was not in his hand, as he was certain that it had been when he had passed out. It wasn't there. He looked up, at the door, and cursed, knowing that there was no way he could get into it. He considered going back for Remus, who had a wand, but he doubted that remus would open the door that doubtlessly had a, perhaps ex, Death Eater behind it. Possibly even two.

He growled slightly out of frustration, he still hadn't heard the floo, but he was doubtlessly on a time limit. Raising his hand he knocked loudly on the door. Wondering if there were charms on it that would prevent the person inside from hearing.

There was no answer from the door, but he did hear footsteps behind him. he turned around, muscles tensing.

Tonks was down the hall from him, and he could see her as she got closer. Finally stopping mere feet from him. Wand out and a grim expression on her face. Her hair, that had been a bright pink, turned a dark red with black roots. She was furious.

With a snap Fred realised that she still thought he was a traitor.

"Wait, Tonks, hi, let me explain. I'm, well I guess I am, but not really, I'm more like a-"

She interrupted what Fred was sure was going to be a long, confusing rant. "Fred, shut up, I know exactly what you are, and why we haven't shipped you off to Azkaban is beyond me!"

Fred stepped back, his back hitting the wall, both surprised and unsurprised at the contempt in her voice. He sighed shortly and frustratedly, "No, Tonks, I'm afraid you don't understand. However, I'm in no mood to explain it to you, so if you could just tell me where-"

Again she interrupted him, "In no mood to _explain it to me_?!" she sounded outraged, and Fred looked confused, she looked insulted, and he couldn't figure out why.

"I'm not an idiot Fred. I don't need you to explain anything to me. You are a Death Eater, there is no way you can talk me out of believing that, because it is the truth." Her voice, that had started loudly, screeching at him, had grown softer, and revealed hurt. Fred was reminded of how close George and Tonks were before his betrayal. Undoubtedly the hurt and hatred George must have been feeling had rubbed off onto her. Which was simply _great_ for Fred. Really swell.

Anything Fred could have, or would have, said was interrupted by Remus walking quickly towards them. Tonks, even as she turned her head and saw him behind her walking to her, ignored him and pointed her want more firmly at Fred.

Remus, after seeing the situation for what it was: ridiculous but expected, stepped between Tonks and Fred, looking at Tonks.

"Tonks, you need to calm down. You don't understand. Fred isn't how it seems he-" Remus continued to talk, calmly attempting to explain it to Tonks, not an easy feat with her current mood. Fred, however, tuned both of them out, possible situations involving Daphne, few of which were good. After the last time Daphne had been caught and held by the Order, Fred had lost any faith he had in the Order. Not to say he didn't prefer them to the Dark, but he didn't think that they were as good as they claimed and had a low opinion of them for condemning Death Eaters for the very things Fred could see them doing. There was nothing that Fred hated more than a hypocrite.

Fred, hearing but not caring about the bickering of Remus and Tonks, about him and his, apparently debatable, loyalties, he interrupted, "Where's Daphne?" his voice was soft, and perhaps that was why both looked at him startledly.

Neither of them answered, Remus because he didn't know the answer, and Tonks because she still thought he was a traitor.

After a few moments of silence, Fred stared pleadingly at Remus, knowing that he already felt guilty. Remus sighed, then inhaled grievously, and in perhaps the same breath, turned Tonks and looked pleadingly at her.

Although, whether or not Tonks would have given into her boyfriend, and by extension, Fred, would forever remain unknown, as, interrupting Remus and Tonks looks, the floo sounded.

All three looked down the nearby hallway, Tonks simply turning around while Fred and Remus looked only at the opening of it. Already, from down the hallway, Fred could hear hurried footsteps, doubtlessly his mother's, and behind it, several others.

Fred closed his eyes, muscles unconsciously tensing.

Preparing for the onslaught of yelling, and particularly tears, that he anticipated and associated with his mother, or any of his (now overly and sure to be ridiculously emotional) family.

He swallowed thickly and both Remus and Tonks looked at him. Remus in worry, Tonks in a weird mix between satisfaction and worry (doubtlessly for his family, sure that they would be hurt). Remus had failed in explaining it to her, she just didn't want to listen, and probably wouldn't for a while.

Fred avoided their stares after glancing at them once, and looked at the ground instead. Even as the steps got faster and closer, now approaching the hallway.

Minutes later, Tonks got out of the way of the admittedly formidable crowd of angry -or perhaps heartbroken- red haired Weasleys.

Fred looked up, aware that the footsteps, so loud in his mind only moments ago, had gone silent, and the cause of the resulting noise was standing just FEET away from him. Looking at him. All of them were, he could feel their, probably accusing, stares on his tilted away face.

He, as the silence and time wore on, straightened his shoulders and looked up, right into the tear streaked face of his mother. Looking at her face, so familiar and yet not, with her hastily and badly brushed, tied back hair, lines more apparent than ever, he was reminded strongly of all the other times she had carefully studied him, so sure that he had done something to be ashamed of.

Pranking then, betrayal of the cause his entire family could potentially die for now.

"Hi, mum." his voice was soft, and tired, and full of indifference, making Fred both grimace and want to smirk, but yet vulnerable. It made Fred want to grit his teeth and leave. But he didn't.

His mum, or any of the other members of his family, behind her, for that matter, did not answer. Only looked at him.

Fred sighed.

 **So, I've said it once, I've said it twice, and I will say it again: Please review. Have a great day, you lovely human beings! :)**


	11. Progress

**I know guys. It's been months. Okay, so I started getting reviews from a guest on this (you know who you are, thank you SO MUCH), and I was looking and I actually have a lot more chapters for this... at least i'm pretty sure that they're all ready to upload... :) So here they are. I make no guarantees that this will be finished but.. here.**

Fred closed his eyes, waiting for the world to stop spinning, slightly though it was, and wondered when the last time he had eaten was. Probably, that he could call to mind, day before last. No wonder he felt dizzy and lightheaded. He leaned back against the wall that his back had only been inches from.

He looked again into the eyes that, less than a minute ago he had been staring into intently, perhaps looking for forgiveness among them. The eyes of his mother.

But there wasn't any forgiveness to be found. Not yet at least. Fred could only hope that after she had heard the story, and perhaps after time had wearily passed, she, and the others, would be able to forgive him.

Remus broke the silence in the room. "Molly, Arthur, before you do anything, maybe we should all go sit down and talk. Fred and I will explain. I'll call Kingsley too, he's better at this. We can even call Severus."

Fred rolled his eyes, Snape would be too busy to come and chat with his family.

Molly just looked at Remus, not saying anything back to his proposal, not that he seemed offended by it.

Arthur on the other hand, who was taking this turn of events considerably better than his wife, nodded at Lupin. "That, um, sounds like a good idea, Remus. You do that. We'll just, um, move to the living room."

Remus nodded and carefully moved past the wide array of Weasleys who were blocking most of the hallway. No one moved until they heard the sound of the floo and knew that Remus had gone to get Kingsley, and quite possibly Snape.

The sound of the floo seemed to wake everyone up. Bill, who had been happily loitering at the back, avoiding his family's gazes, stepped forward and grabbed a few of his siblings hands- Charlie and Ginny's- and pulled them back into the living room down the hall and behind them. The rest of the family followed promptly.

It was with a heavy heart that Fred followed them down the hall and away from the door to the room that _may_ have Daphne in it.

Daphne, who he so desperately wanted to see. Wanted her comfort, her advice, and mainly her smile.

In the sitting room, everyone sat down on the many couches and chairs. Silent. Fred himself sat in the armchair farthest away from where the others were sat, avoiding eye contact.

No one spoke, and Fred didn't even attempt to explain anything until Remus returned. He was hopeful still that he and Kingsley would simply explain it all for Fred, and he wouldn't have to deal with it. It was doubtlessly going to be awful and probably emotional for most, if not all, of the Weasleys. One could only hope it ended in forgiveness.

Minutes ticked by in the unnatural, tense silence, of the Weasleys. Tonks had left through the floo at the very start, not wanting to get between the Weasleys. Wise of her, Fred thought wryly, knowing how scary his family could be, especially his mother, and in this case his twin, when emotional.

Finally, after 7 minutes of tense silence, the floo sounded again, and Kingsley, and then Remus stepped out of the torrid, neon green flames. They both nodded to the Weasleys, and smiled wanly in Fred's direction.

Molly got up, Arthur quickly doing the same to voice his own questions, and rushed to Kingsley and Remus before they has so much as stepped a few feet from the fireplace.

Their questions were jumbled together.

"Kingsley, what is going on? How could-"

"What do you mean to imply with Fred-?"

The other Weasleys, not Fred or his twin though, hastily joined in, adding their own questions into the mix. Resulting in a very loud clash of voices, mostly indistinguishable, except for vague words.

"Fred… Death Eater?"

"What is this?"

"If- Death Eater-"

"Azkaban?!"

"What do you hope to prove-"

"What is the-"

Eventually Kingsley held up his hands and attempted to reclaim order over the interrupting and loud voices of the distressed voices. It took several minutes, as was to be expected, but silence eventually fell over the Weasley clan.

"Maybe we should return to our seats, if you will, Molly and Arthur." Kingsley's voice was calm, the opposite of the emotion that Fred could see in his eyes. Kingsley, though he was a brilliant strategist, or perhaps because of it, never let his emotions get to him, or create a lapse in his judgement. Fred felt a nagging suspicion at the back of his mind… Something was wrong.

Fred took a deep breath, putting aside his paranoia,

 _You're only paranoid if it's unfounded._

and focused on the task at hand: explaining to his family why he had seemingly betrayed them and purposefully hurt them in the worst way possible. And while doing this, hope against hope that they would be able to move past their hatred of him and pave some way to forgiveness in the near, or even distant, future.

Everyone who had gotten up, Arthur and Molly had strayed farthest from their originally occupied seats, and were still in the dining room, a few feet from the floo, including most of Fred's siblings, who had, at the very least, risen from their seats, moved back to them.

Kingsley and Remus conjured their own seats a few feet from Fred's. Remus closest to Fred, and Kingsley sitting next to Remus, a few yards from Fred.

There was a silence. It was almost tangible in the air, Fred almost believed it to be cuttable, as if he could pull out his wand, conjure a knife, and cut it.

Eventually, Kingsley leaned forward, his back hunched, and put his elbows on his knees, before bringing his clasped hands underneath his chin. He shifted positions, moving his hands again, clasping them out in front of him, and began to talk.

"Weasleys, let's revisit out situation a few months ago, well, more like almost half a year." he sighed wearily, the war showing more than ever in lines on his face, "We were losing desperately. Vol-" he broke off at the glares from most of the Weasleys. "You-Know-Who, that is, had recruited more than ever, bringing his forces to a devastating number. At least according to our spies. We could-"

Remus interrupted, his eyes darting occasionally and frequently to Fred, holding his gaze once before breaking it and looking at Arthur, "Speaking of spies, Kingsley, our spies, at the time, we had about 9, all in different ranks in Vold- _his,_ forces. When Fred, uh," Fred coughed, obviously wanting to keep his cover underwraps for now, Remus nodded, looking at him.

Remus continued, "received the Dark Mark… we only had two remaining spies."

Kingsley nodded, and shot a look at Remus, not happy with him interrupting and detouring their conversation.

Remus sat back, glaring at Kingsley. Tensions grew when Kingsley continued, "As I was saying. With You-Know-Who's forces like they were, and ours as low and patched as they were, we were never going to be able to win against them when it came down to it. Meaning that the final battle was approaching, and we were nowhere near able to win. As time went on-"

Fred leaned forward into a similar position that Kingsley had held earlier, with his elbows on his knees, and interrupted Kingsley, looking squarely at his family, specifically the ones that were in the Order. "Something needed to change."

No one interrupted him, Fred had now and truly captivated the audience.

"George, you remember Draco," it wasn't really a question, Fred knew that their friendship was something that George wasn't going to forget, especially since Draco turned to the Dark side.

George sat back in the couch, crossing his arms and throwing his leg over his knee, staring at Fred, he raised his eyebrow, looking at him both emotionlessly but expectantly.

Taking that as confirmation, Fred continued, but was cut off by Remus, "Right, yes, Draco. Uh, Malfoy, that it. In case you hadn't guessed, his case is similar to Fred's-"

Arthur interrupted, looking impatient, "And that would be?"

"What?"

"And his case is similar to Fred's. But _what is Fred's case?"_ Mr. Weasley's voice was strained, though his face was successfully hiding his emotions. However, as Fred's often had, prior to his Death Eater experience, his deep set, glistening eyes gave away the worry and hope he felt.

Remus and Kingsley exchanged glances.

Kingsley leaned closer to the Weasley's, as if hoping to convey the secretive nature of the information he was going to momentarily divulge. "Fred, and Draco Malfoy for that matter, is a spy." Kingsley spoke slowly, probably trying to not excite everyone more than the statement itself would. His usually deep voice was quieter than usual as well.

The entire room was silent, no one moving except for Fred, who tensed up.

His Death Eater trained eyes had picked up on the strained body language of both Kingsley and Remus; That in and off itself was hardly unusual, it was, after all, a stressful situation for both of them.

Although, they were frequently fidgeting in their seats. Examining them both more carefully, Fred couldn't help but notice how close their wands were to both their hands. Kingsley's wand was poking out of his right hand's coat sleeve, easily and quickly accessible. Remus's was on his lap, only a few inches away from where his right, dominant hand, was resting.

As soon as the words left Kingsley's mouth, there was a thick, heavy silence in the room. Then, unsurprisingly, noise broke out. Bill, who had already known, as well as Ginny, George, and Percy, stayed sitting, looking shocked. However, both of Fred's parents, and Charlie stood up.

Amid the emerging yells and even whispers of surprise and horror. Silent tears ran down Ginny's face as she looked wordlessly at Fred, probably reflecting on her opinion of him only minutes ago.

The emotions of Percy's and, again Bill's, faces were mixed. Percy looked mostly relieved, if very pale and shaken. Bill looked pensive and angry.

Fred closed his eyes, avoiding looking at the face of his twin. He knew that George would be the least forgiving, he had quite possibly hurt him the worst.

Minutes ticked by, Fred didn't open his eyes. Kingsley and Remus calmed the other Weasleys down, and everyone resumed their seats.

What followed was a long lengthy conversation. Between the Weasleys, and Fred, who minimally participated. It came to a stunning conclusion when the fireplace made a familiar roaring noise, and everyone looked to see the neon green flames fill it.

Fred didn't know what to expect, not that he had much time to figure out what to think, but whatever he, or anyone else, may have expected, it was not Severus Snape.

He stepped out of the fireplace carelessly, not minding the ash that was smeared on the ends of his robes and cloak. After the fire had calmed down, and fallen to the ground in nonexistence, he entered the living room amid glares from Weasleys, and tense looks from Remus and Kingsley. Fred was staring at him, his face serious. He could sense the worry that was emaninating from Kingsley and Remus.

He watched Snape, Remus and Kingsley exchange looks over the heads of the Weasleys, who were looking at each other. Snape looked at Fred and gave him one of his rare smiles from his previously expressionless face. He summoned one of the chairs from the kitchen, put it nearest to Fred and the door, and sat down.

The Weasleys, excluding Fred, for once didn't say anything. They had likely sensed the tense attitude of Remus, Kingsley and Snape, and chosen not to comment and instead wait for an explanation.

No such explanation came, for Snape merely stared at the distant wall. It was silent for a minute or so, before Remus leaned forward, leaning heavily on his arm rest to get as close as he could to Snape. He and Kingsley seemed to have forgotten there were non Order members in the room, namely the younger Weasleys.

"Severus?"

Snape looked at him. His face was, per usual, expressionless, but Fred swore that he could see a glimmer of something in his eyes.

Snape sighed heavily. "They are coming."

Remus recoiled, looking shocked. His face palled noticeably.

Kingsley blinked but didn't show any other reaction. "When?"

"Tomorrow. At about 12 in the afternoon."

"Who?"

Snape pressed his lips together, making them appear thinner than usual, "Everyone that he can get. Hundreds."

It was silent as everyone digested this, most of the room was out of the know, with no idea of what they were talking about. Fred had a sinking feeling that they were talking about a Death Eater raid, or by the sound of it, a battle. Perhaps the Final Battle.

" _Where?_ "

"Hogwarts, of course."

No one said anything, Fred knowing that he was right. It was a battle, and it would be the Death Eaters.

Fred closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that it was likely that he would die in the battle. He thought of Daphne, regretful that he couldn't have married her, or at least told her how he felt. And Bella and Rodolphus. He had doomed them to death at the Dark Lord's hands for being traitors.

Few got away with betraying the Dark Lord and lived. They all, him, Daphne, and the Lestranges, were all living on borrowed time. It was simply that, a matter of time before Death came for them too.

Abruptly, Fred stood up. He wasn't going to waste what may be his last day, seeing as the attack was tomorrow, without Daphne, who he knew he loved, at his side. He made it a few steps before realising that he still didn't know for sure where Daphne was, or be able to get into the room.

He looked at Kingsley, "Where is Daphne?" His voice was more aggressive that he would have liked, and Kingsley looked at him without answering fo a moment. Fred was about to open his mouth and ask again, when he got his answer.

"In a room, locked in, upstairs. Do you wish to see her?"

Fred nodded, glad that Kingsley had guessed what he wanted without him having to vocalise it.

Kingsley stood up, and left the silent room. Fred followed him. They went upstairs, Kingsley at a brisk pace and Fred trying to keep up with him. They stopped at an unremarkable room, and Kingsley pulled out his wand.

He muttered a few words, unintelligible to Fred, and the door clicked open, gently opening a few inches.

Fred, without waiting, opened the door the rest of the way, ignoring the nerves in his stomach. There she was, but there was something wrong with her.

Fred tensed up, looking at her suspiciously.

Something was very, very wrong.

 **More updates on the way! Please review!**


	12. The start

**Here's the next one, because why not do it all in one day.**

Something was wrong.

That much Fred was sure of. He entered the room, and Kingsley closed it behind him. Fred jumped, not having expected the loud noise that came with the door closing. Fred heard the footsteps of Kingsley walk away, and Fred narrowed his eyes.

But Daphne soon stole his attention from behind him. She was walking towards him, but still had not said a word.

It unsettled him. He expected her to be mad, but he hoped that she would forgive him for not telling her about his spyhood, and for dragging her away from her father, a Death Eater, and the rest of her family. Fred doubted that they would deign to talk to her after news of her apparent betrayal broke.

She was standing in front of him now. Her face was cold, and her eyes burned into his. Fred shifted from foot to foot nervously.

"Daphne, look, I-" Fred began, looking down at her face, he was easily a foot taller than her.

He was interrupted by her hand flying up to met his face. She slapped his cheek hard, effectively cutting him off mid apology. He recoiled, not having expected that at all. Harsh words, sure. Angry yelling, of course. But he hadn't expected her to hit him, her never having done it before, even when she was drop dead furious at him.

But, looking back, he supposed that he deserved it.

He stepped back a few steps, not knowing if she was going to slap him again. His cheek smarted, and Fred resisted the urge to touch it. He looked at her warily, wondering what she would do next.

She took a step to compensate for the step he took back, and grabbed his shirt in her clenched fist. She pulled him down to her height, and kissed him. He hesitantly kissed her back. After a few moments, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. She let go of his shirt, and put her arms around his neck, and snuck her fingers into his hair. Fred smiled against her.

After at least a few minutes, they pulled away, though kept their arms where they were. Both of them were breathing heavily, but smiling at the other.

"What was that for?" Fred asked his arms still around her.

"What, the slap or the kiss?"

"Both."

"Well, I hit because you lied to me. A spy, really?" Fred made to interrupt her, but she talked over him, "And the kiss, because I forgive you."

He blinked at her, and smiled broadly. Without thinking, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Daphne, I love you."

She froze in his embrace, but kept her arms around him. She looked at him, eyes wide.

He looked back at her nervously. It had slipped out, but that didn't mean that it was any less true. He did love her, that he was sure of.

Daphne swallowed, her eyes never leaving his, she kissed him again. It was a shorter kiss, much shorter than their last. Daphne pulled away, just a few inches away, and looked him in the eye.

She smiled at him broadly, a glimmer of hope and something else in her eyes, "I- I love you too, Fred."

Fred grinned at her, he lowered his hands to her waist, and before she expected it, lifted her up and spun her in a small circle, before putting her down.

Both of them were grinning excitedly, and Fred felt like his heart was going to explode. The woman he loved loved him back! There was no better feeling in the world. Even the battle that would surely carry their deaths with it couldn't quench his happiness.

The battle.

Oh yeah, they would both probably both die tomorrow if they fought. They were living on limited time.

He looked into Daphne's eyes, looking at him with love, and knew what he wanted to do. He didn't have a ring though.

"Daphne, I love you, so much. You are doubtlessly the love of my life. I know that now."

He got down on one knee, dropping his hold on Daphne's waist, and instead taking her hand. "So, will you marry me?"

Daphne, who had started crying when he dropped to one knee, nodded her head frantically, and dropped to her knees in front of him. They hugged again, Daphne with tears in her eyes and Fred looking at her anxiously.

"Yes, Fred, of course I will." Tears were still trickling down Daphne's face, and a few slid down Fred's as he grinned at her.

He laughed breathlessly with her, and leaned in to kiss her again. She eagerly kissed him back, and Fred grinned against her lips.

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out the door and downstairs. He thought that he would introduce her, formally at least, to his parents and family. Then, in heavy disguises they would go and get rings. Then find someone qualified and willing to marry them.

Downstairs, the Weasleys, Snape, Remus and Kingsley were still talking, presumably about the coming battle in hushed voices. They stopped abruptly when Fred and Daphne came down the stairs.

Fred was grinning broadly, ear to ear, with what appeared to be a few tear streaks down his face. His eyes were shining. He looked like he couldn't be any happier. Daphne was in a similar way: her hair was in disarray, and there were still tears falling down her face. However she looked thrilled, and every so often a giggle or laugh escaped her lips and she held adoringly onto Fred's arm.

They looked to everyone a lovely couple.

Except, of course, to most of the Weasley's, who immediately identified her as the other Death Eater caught with Fred the first time, right after they all found out who he allegedly really was: a Death Eater.

Fred stopped walking abruptly, the smile slipping off his face, when he saw the glares aimed at Daphne. Daphne kept a strong hold on his arm, though she kept a level stare at Fred's family.

Fred cleared his throat, knowing all attention was on them, "Um, right, so..." he trailed off, looking down at Daphne and smiling again, "This is Daphne Greengrass, my fiancee. I don't think that you've been properly introduced."

Snape smiled to himself. It really had been obvious that they liked each other, and Snape was pretty sure that their attraction to each other was almost as old as their friendship.

He was, however, one of the few to have a positive response. Remus and Kingsley both looked surprised before nodding their congratulations to the couple and smiling faintly. George, for all his surprise looked at them without anger or contempt, unlike the rest of his family.

Molly looked shocked and affronted. No way had she expected that Fred would get engaged to someone he had just met, at best, a half a year ago (if they met when Fred went missing), much less a Death Eater.

He had to know that this would destroy any hope they had of reconciliation between Fred and the rest of his family. There was just no way that they could accept the young, until recently loyal, Death Eater into their family.

Most of Fred's siblings looked surprised, but not angry or disapproving. That, however, wasn't to say that they looked happy or congregatory.

Ginny looked angry. Her face was growing pinker and pinker as she glared daggers at the unfamiliar witch. Her eyes were alight with the anger that usually lead to the Bat Bogey hex.

It was silent after Fred made his announcement. All, or most, eyes were on Daphne. She stood up straighter under the glares and refused to let go of Fred's arm and hand. She looked everyone back in the eyes.

After a few moments of silence, in which Fred was trying to steel himself to simply walk out the door: Daphne was his life, he didn't need his parents or siblings if they didn't support him. George stood up from his seat.

Fred watched him nervously. He unconsciously tensed his muscles, and tightened his grip on Daphne's hand, ready to leave if George did something rash.

George, not looking at his twin, crossed to room. When he was in front of Daphne, who was looking at him in a mix of anxiety and defiance, he held out his hand to her. Blinking in surprise, Daphne hesitated before taking it and firmly shaking his hand.

Fred was staring at George. George smiled at Daphne and dropped her hand after shaking. He turned his attention to Fred and looked at his solemnly. Fred had no idea what to expect as his twin opened his mouth, no expression on his face.

"I forgive you."

Fred blinked. He wasn't sure if George was being serious. How could he just forgive Fred for all that he had put him through with his alleged turning to the Dark side.

Fred opened his mouth, his confusion evident; "George… I don't understand, how can you just-"

George cut him off, a small smile on his face as he once again finished his twin's sentence, "forgive you like that?". He smiled bigger and chuckled at the surprised look on Fred's face, "Well, brother of mine, it's simple. I understand what you did, and why you did it. I accept it. I also accept that you came back to us. You could have just left with your fiancee, never looking back. So, I forgive you."

Fred stared at him. Slowly he nodded, and dropped Daphne's hand. He stepped forward and embraced his twin, who hugged him back just as tightly.

Daphne stepped back, resisting the urge to smile broadly. Though Fred rarely talked about his family to her, at least during their short time as active Death Eaters, she could tell in his mannerism since seeing his family again that they meant a lot to him. She was thankful, now more than ever, that at least one of his siblings could forgive him, especially his twin.

Looking past the hugging, and slightly tearful brothers, and at the hostile mother and a few siblings of her fiance, she felt a sinking in her heart. She worried that she would be the thing in the way of them forgiving Fred and moving on. After the battle, and end of the war, either way, of course.

 **Hope you enjoyed, and of course as ever, review.**


	13. Here we go, again

**Have another chapter. I would stop updating but we all know if I did I'd forget about this and never update again... so here ya go. Enjoy!**

Fred and George broke apart, tears dripping down both their cheeks, and smiles on their faces. Unfortunately, the rest of the family was not as happy, or forgiving, to Daphne or Fred.

Molly, Ginny and Bill were looking at Fred with sour looks, their gazes often straying to Daphne and glaring heatidly at her. Arthur, on the other hand was looking at her curiously, and Daphne had the strangest feeling that he could see inside her soul. His piercing eyes held hers, and she broke eye contact by looking down at the floor, suddenly shy.

Fred turned to the rest of the family, not sure what to say, he had already introduced Daphne, and the response was only positive from George. He took Daphne's hand again, looking somewhat defiantly at his mother's glare.

The silence stretched on, which Fred interpreted as a dismissal, almost, of him and his fiance. He turned to Daphne, no longer going to wait for his family to say something.

"Are you ready to go, we should go get wedding stuff… like rings and stuff."

Daphne nodded and opened her mouth to comment, but before she could say anything Molly cut her off.

"Ready to go? Go where, Fred? We're all right here, where could you go?"

"Mum, I told you, we're going to be married-" Fred looked at her levelly, unsure if she would protest or not, but hoping that she wouldn't.

"Get married?! Fred you can't get married, she's a-"

"She's a what, Mum?"

There was a silence in the room as its inhabitants stared at Fred and Molly, Daphne long ignored by their gazes. "A Death Eater, Fred. She's a Death Eater!" Molly's words ripped from her throat loudly, and most of the room looked wide eyed at her, before turning to Fred, wondering how he would react.

Fred's eyes narrowed dangerously, and his steady grip on Daphne's hand tightened, "She _was_ a Death Eater, Mum. Not anymore, she turned. Remember?"

Molly was breathing heavily, as was Fred, when she returned his comment, ignoring the question, "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater, Fred, you know that."

Fred was shocked, it was as if she had forgotten that he had been a Death Eater… Or had she?

"Mum, how can you say that? _I was a Death Eater._ But we turned. Not anymore."

She ignored him, tears sliding down her cheek. She drew in a raspy breath, "Fred, it's her, or us."

The room was silent, no one feeling confident enough to challenge her statement, even if a few of the Weasleys didn't agree with it. Arthur, for example, as well as George, Percy and Charlie didn't agree with it at all. It was wrong to make Fred choose between his wife-to-be and them.

Fred looked shocked, blinking rapidly. For a moment, the entire room seemed frozen, before action sprung out, starting with Fred.

He pulled Daphne with him as he walked past his mother, ignoring her and the rest of his family, and into the kitchen. In the kitchen, he set about putting glamours on himself, having done them enough time that he didn't need a mirror. He realised abruptly that Daphne, who was holding onto his free hand tightly and looking at him worriedly, didn't have her wand.

He summoned it, "Accio Daphne's wand." His voice quiet and solemn. As expected it flew through the air to him, with a small buzz, from one of the other rooms. Fred handed it to Daphne, who accepted it with a small smile, despite her still worried glance on him.

He ignored her worries, still shocked himself. He had never expected her to say that. He could see her motive though. She had only just gotten him back, she didn't want to lose him to Death Eaters again. She was probably worried Daphne would tempt him back.

Daphne, with her wand in hand, began to apply her own glamours. She turned her blond hair a dark honey color, and made it longer. Her normally blue eyes turned brown, and her features altered slightly. She also appeared older.

Fred, down with his glamours, looked different, but was still recognisable if you looked hard enough. His hair was a light chestnut brown, which matched the short beard he gave himself. His brown eyes he turned a piercing green. He looked older, and conjured a pair of round, brown plastic glasses. Donning them he looked around, straightening his shoulders as he did so. The glasses only had clear plastic in the lens, they weren't prescription, and he had no trouble seeing.

Faintly Fred could hear George yelling at his mother, and wasn't surprised. He looked at the ground, still trying to process all that had happened in the last hour.

He and Daphne were engaged. About to leave and get married. His mother wouldn't be at the wedding. It would probably just be him and Daphne, maybe George. The battle was tomorrow, where death would probably come for him. His mother had made him choose between her and Daphne. He chose Daphne. He would always choose Daphne.

Daphne turned to look at him, "Are you ready to go?" Despite what she thought about Fred and his family, and how guilty she felt for being a reason for their recent falling out, it was up to him, and he made it clear that he didn't want to talk to them. Not now at least.

"Yeah." Fred nodded, slipping the emotionless mask on his face. Daphne did the same. They clasped hands again, and Daphne lead them both back into the living room, and towards the door.

Lupin, Shacklebolt and Severus were still sitting, preferring to stay out of it as most of the Weasleys yelled at each other. Everyone turned their attention to Fred and Daphne as they entered.

There was a general confusion of most people in the room, not the Order leadership or Snape, as they realised that Fred and Daphne were both disguised. Lupin, Shacklebolt and Snape had seen the disguises before and were familiar with them as they were occasionally used by the young ex Death Eaters.

It was quiet in the room except for the confused murmurs of the Weasleys, when Fred and Daphne opened the front door and left.

The air was cold and stale. Fred realised that Christmas had already passed, and that it was just a few short weeks until the new year. He squeezed Daphne's hand, and she squeezed back.

With a deep breath, he began to walk towards the apperation point, wondering where they should even go. Muggle London would probably be the best place to go, Diagon Alley wouldn't be safe, not to mention that the majority of shops had closed down long ago.

They walked down the beach, looking out at the waves. The sky was stormy, the waves violent. Fred smiled bitterly to himself. It was easily the worst and best point of his life. The love of his life was going to marry him, probably in a few hours, but his mother was probably well on her way to disown him. Not to mention that he, and Daphne, would probably both die tomorrow.

Already a few minutes had passed since he stormed out, but Fred didn't feel them. Distantly, behind them, he heard the cottage door open and then slam shut again. He and Daphne turned around at almost the same time.

George, after looking around shortly and spotting them, ran towards them. Fred and Daphne stopped walking and waited for him, exchanging glances.

Fred mostly felt numb, he suspected that it was the shock still.

George was panting when he caught up with them.

"I want to come… to your wedding I mean. If … If, you'll have me, that is." George was still breathing heavily, looking between his twin and sister in law to-be.

Fred looked at Daphne, who looked at him. Without him even having to ask, she smiled at him and nodded sightly.

Fred smiled broadly at his twin, putting on another emotion mask, hiding his sadness. "We'd be thrilled to have you, George."

George had caught his breath, and so Fred and Daphne both continued their walk to the apperation point.

"Wait, guys, Lupin told me to tell you, when I came, that he wanted you to wait. He was going to find where both the Lestranges were, and that they could come with you."

Fred looked surprised, but after only a moment, he smiled, happy that their mentors would join them.

Daphne smiled next to him, looking forward to talking to them. It had been a while since seeing Rodolphus and Bellatrix, and she desperately wanted to talk to them. Especially after her and Fred got engaged.

Fred felt a small inclining of shame: he hadn't even thought of either of them since he brought them, no matter how willing they were, to the Light side. He had practically doomed them. He realised that Daphne didn't know about the battle tomorrow.

He turned to her, interrupting the thoughtful silence around all three of them, "I don't know if you heard, but there is going to be a huge battle tomorrow afternoon. According to Snape, the Dark has-"

"Hundreds," she said, her voice resigned, "I heard what Snape said. Should be fun." she smiled at him. He smiled back, finding slight humor in the dire situation.

Fred turned to George. He had felt his gaze on him for at least a few minutes, but had avoided looking at him, knowing that he would ask the harder questions.

Deciding to head off the questions, Fred looked grimly at George, "I imagine that you still have questions," George hesitantly nodded, "well, ask now."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Did you kill anyone?" George's voice was measured, but Fred could sense underlying tension.

Fred nodded, and looked down at the ground. He didn't want to see his twin's face when he answered, "Yes."

Silence. Then, "Who?"

Fred swallowed, "Mundungus Fletcher. A few others, muggles mostly."

Fred, after almost a minute of silence, looked up at his brother. George's face was sad, and was looking straight at Fred. He heaved a sigh, silently waiting for an explanation.

"I had to, George. You don't know what it was like, being a Death Eater. I did things I never dreamed I would. Dark Arts, torture, killing." It was better, Fred figured, to just come clean.

It was silent. Fred looked up from the ground, to find George staring at him solemnly with sorrow on his face. He nodded, "Okay… Who were the muggles?"

Fred swallowed, "I don't know. Random muggles, I don't even know why the Death Eaters were bothering with them."

George nodded. Fred didn't know what to do, his brother hadn't looked surprised, but still sad. Not angry thought, not what Fred would have expected.

Suddenly, George gasped, and looked back up at him. "Wait, the Order, when we found Dung's body, it was… it was, horrible. Dismembered, and cut up, he had been tortured. Was that… was that you?"

Fred shrugged, looking at the ground, "Some of it. Most of it."

No one said anything after that. They waited in silence until they distantly heard the door slam, the noise carried by the wind, and three figures came out. Fred assumed that two were the Lestranges, but couldn't deduce who the third was. It was probably one of the Order's leaders, maybe even Snape, who was escorting Bella and Rod.

A few minutes later, when the three were in better view, Fred was surprised to see that it was Bill with them.

He nodded at Fred, and Daphne, but didn't say anything in explanation. No words were really needed between the two brothers, even all that had transpired between the two, the bond of brotherhood was relatively unbroken.

 **Please review!**


	14. Dread

**Alright guys, here's the next chapter that i actually just wrote. This story, at least i think, is getting pretty close to the end. MAybe 2 or 3 more and an epilouge... yeah. Enjoy! :)**

It was with blissful denial that Fred speed walked, appearances must not be forgotten and no running was permitted, from shop to shop with Bill, Fred and Rodolphus, in a hurried glee. Bill and Rod were both quiet, but Fred didn't care, they were all at his side, standing with him again. That was all that mattered. George, on the other hand, was anything but quiet.

He was buzzing away with talk of meaningless things. Quidditch, random petty squirmishes. So much like he had in stressful times during their Hogwart years, that it was easy for Fred to see the glimmer of his twin beneath the hurriedly applied glammers he was sporting.

Their shopping trip was, thankfully, just about done. They had picked out a ring, of silver and emeralds, which Rod had insisted he pay for (which was good, as he was really the only one who thought to bring money, from a bottomless bag both he and Bella carried with them at all times). As well as grab a few other things that they would need for the marriage ceremony and the following celebration. Champagne and food among them.

They were all set. Where to actually conduct the ceremony was the only question remaining. After mulling in over, Fred figured that going to a muggle church would be best. He just hadn't approached the question to Daphne. She, as far as he knew, didn't much like muggles, but surely she would see that it was safest.

Fred and the guys were meeting up with Daphne and Bella, who were _still_ dress shopping. Fred didn't know how hard it was to find a suitable dress and buy it, but it had taken most of the day. He and the others made there way down the street, looking carefully over their backs, enemies to both sides they were, and as such be to careful, even in disguise.

After finding the ladies, hurrying them along, all of them left for a small muggle church on the edges of London, the location of which Fred had gleaned from a passerby in muggle London.

The marriage itself was lovely, all five, six if you count the preacher, agreed on it. Bella was beaming, as was Rod, though he looked slightly more subdued. Fred wondered if it was the bittersweet overtones of the wedding with the war hanging over their heads, and their likely deaths with it, or something more. Fred never once felt the smile fade from his face, even if a few tears did fall from his face. Many tears, most happy, some in mourning for his lost relationship with his parents.

But what was done couldn't be changed. No matter how much one wished to. The sun didn't cease to shin on the will of an ant, or person for that matter. And after all the months, years, leading up to it, the impending battle seemed just as certain as the sun rising.

Happily with his wife's hand is his, close friends and brother next to him, he gripped his wand and looked around. The sun was setting, and in the soft grass and few tall trees around the church, they had an enviable view of it. Daphne jumped next to him, and he turned his gaze from the horizon to her face. She was looking, stricken, at the ground in front of him. He looked himself, and heards gasps from the others in their little group. It was a patronus. A weasel. His father's. Fred froze as words, speaking with his father's voice, poured from its mouth.

"George, Fred if you're there, you have to come. There's been an attack, we think it's _the_ attack, on Hogwarts. It's urgent. Most of the Order is already here, as is Volde-"

The voice cut off suddenly, and the patronus disappeared.

Daphne and Fred exchanged glances, knowing what to do. They grasped hands and apperated, knowing everyone else would as well.

Choosing to apperate to the Great Hall (the wards had likely fallen) seemed like a good idea. When the tightness of apperation left him, he, still with Daphne's hand in his, looked around. The Great Hall was basically empty, the silence making Fred nervous.

Bella and Rodolphus apperated near them, appearing out of the blue. George appeared after them, by himself.

The all looked around at each other, and with basically a noncommittal shrug, walked out of the hall as a group. As they approached the door, which were shut, they could hear evidence of the fight outside. They opened the door, and the noises of the battle, mainly screaming and yelling, got much louder. Fred grimaced and turned to Daphne.

He gasped. Daphne, and him as well, were still disguised.

Everyone continued to walk out of the hall, and Fred grabbed Daphne's hand, surprised. "Daphne! We're still in our disguises!" He blinked, looking at her, "and you're still in your wedding dress!"

She looked at him, "Well yeah, and you in your dress robes. I guess we never took them off." Her tone wasn't as surprised as Fred's, and was a little bit sarcastic.

He smiled at her, happy they were married, and questioned, "Do we take them off?"

"I don't know. Probably. We want to be recognised by the light, right?"

Fred frowned, unsure, before shrugging, "I guess." He smiled suddenley, before flourishing his wand and both of their true appearances were revealed, but their wedding clothes remained.

Daphne looked down at herself, and smiled happily, if softly at the dress, and then up at Fred. He laughed back, and they continued walking.

At the door of the Great Hall, seeing them, George as well as Bella and Rodolphus dropped their disguises, though they also kept their wedding attire, and all five of them joined the battle.

After that the battle went fairly quick. Fred and Daphne were separated from George and Bella and Rodolphus.

Fred and Daphne, high profile traitors as they were, once the dark noticed them, were targeted. They both, as a team, dueled with Lucius, Fenrir Greyback, and Dolohov before the Dark Lord called an end to the fight. The Dark redrew, and Daphne and Fred, following the other light fighters that they saw and headed to the Great Hall.

The mood in the Great Hall was grim, and Fred saw a lot of wounded, or dead, people there.

With their heads downed to avoid unwanted attention, Fred and Daphne made their way to the edge of the hall hoping to avoid people.

"Fred!" A voice yelled his name from across the hall, and Fred instinctually ducked down a bit, and Daphne snorted in amusement at him. He grinned at her before looking around for who had yelled at him.

Running, or rather briskly walking through the people towards them was George. He was somber and grim.

"Fred, you have to come quick, Charlie's been hurt."

Just as quick as he'd come, George beckoned to him, and ran back in the direction he'd come. Fred was quick to follow him, Daphne right next to him. They twisted and turned through the crowd, Fred's head still bowed to try and avoid attention. On their way, they spotted two familiar bodies.

"No, Remus, Tonks!" Fred gasped and slowed.

Daphne gasped behind him, and stopped at the bodies' feet.

Fred felt horror overwhelm him, and knew, somewhere in his mind, that they were dead, but that really didn't seem to register with him for a minute. He felt tears blur his eyes for a moment, but he blinked them away. He felt an arm on his shoulder, and he leaned into it for a minute, before turning walking away. Daphen followed him.

George had stopped walking, ahead of them, and was looking, unsurprised, at the bodies mornfully. Fred and Daphne quickly caught up with him and, soldiering on, kept walking. There would be time for grief later.

The enire Weasley family were clustered around the laying down body of Charlie. Fred recognised the healer as Madam Pomprey. She was bending over him, wand out, casting charms.

Molly and Arthur were near Charlie's head, Molly crouched, almost sitting, on the ground, and Arthur was holding her shoulder and crouching down as well. Molly was sobbing.

Ginny, looking younger than ever, was looking shocked, hovering at his feet, clearly unsure. As Fred got closer, he realised that tears were slowly trickling down her cheek. Bill, with Fleur next to him, was hovering to the side, looking angrily. Percy, recently returned in a plot twist that Fred missed, was almost in the background. He was pale and drawn, looking out of place.

George went and stood next to Bill and Fleur, talking to them in low tones. Awkwardly, but displaying false confidence, Fred stood behind Ginny at Charlie's feet. Not close enough to intrude but close enough to hear. Daphne stood with him, rubbing his arm and holding his hand comfortingly. They were both silent, no words needed between them.

Fred leaned forward, unoticed by the other Weasleys (well, excluding George, who knew he was there, of course) to hear what was being said.

Madam Pomprey was talking to Molly and Arthur, who looked grim and sad to say the least as she spoke, "I've never seen this curse before. I don't know how…. blood loss"

Fred was only able to hear snippets and words of what she said. What he heard was enough for him, he started forward, walking calmly past Ginny and Percy.

"Fred?" Ginny gasped, looking surprised.

All other Weasley eyes turned to him, and he could see Arthur looking past him at Daphne. Fred stood taller, and pursed his lips in thought. He gathered his wits and pushed down his emotions, and started examining Charlie's wound.

His stomach had a large cut horizontally across it. As far as he could tell, it wasn't deep enough to be too big a problem to his organs. The main problem was blood loss, as Madam Pomprey had said.

It looked like one of the commoner torture curses that the Death Eaters used. He was fairly sure that he could heal it, and it made sense that the Light wouldn't. It was uncommon that someone would live long enough to be treated.

Without another thought, he got down on his knees, ignoring everone around him, and pulled out his wand.

Everyone started to talk at once, and overall whatever they were saying was indistinguishable to him. He sighed, unable to concentrate with the noise.

"Will you lot shut up? I can heal it."

After that, everyone was pretty agreeable. They stood out of his way as he muttered the counter curse, getting rid of the magical curse that prevented the wound from being closed properly.

A few minutes in, he drew his head back and crinkled his brow up in puzzlement. He was in the last stage of undoing the curse, but it was sticking for some reason, refusing to let go. He sighed impatiently and tried again. No luck, it still wouldn't close the wound.

Turning his head, ignoring his family, he waved Daphne over urgently. She waved reluctantly between Ginny and Percy over to him.

Crouching by him, she got close and whispered, "What's wrong?"

"The last notch of the curse is still there. I can't get rid of it to close the wound." Fred felt dread creep up in him as he realised that he might not be able to heal his brother, and that no one else might either. It was entirely possible, not even not unlikely, that Charlie would bleed out within the hour.

Examining the wound, she grimaced.

 **Alright, so thats probably the last chapter for at least a few days. I don't know when I'll have the next on. maybe tomorrow... but don't be too hopeful for that.**

 **REVIEW guys, I mean it. It's important.**


	15. Battle Continued

**Alright folks. Here yo go. Second update in a day. Hey, if you're reading this, you check out my other fanfiction, I did one a lot like this with Fred as a death eater, except it's different and already written. AlsO, I'm in the process of writing a new fic" Moving On. Featuring an abused Hermione and grieving George. Will they come together with love?**

 **I think yes. But yeah, check them out!**

She looked at him, registering the unspoken request that was in his voice, and she frowned looking at the still bleeding wound with narrowed eyes before hastily pulling out her wand.

Tense minutes ticked by.

Unsurprising, and much to Fred's relief, she could get rid of the curse fairly easy, and quickly healed the wound. She quirked a smile at Fred. He smirked back.

Daphne stood up after a second, pulling Fred up with her. They both took a step back from Charlie, knowing that the other Weasley's would want to see for themselves without them near him.

Just as Fred knew they would, the other Wesley's clustered around him, pressing in close.

He and Daphne shared a look, and knew that they weren't needed, or particularly wanted, and that they still hadn't seen Bella or Rodolphus. They, still close and hand in hand, started to walk around the crowded hall.

They had only been walking for a few minutes when they were stopped by Professor McGonagall.

She was looking at them shrewdly. Fred opened his mouth, but was swiftly cut off by the Professor:

"Weasley, Greengrass. NIce to see both of you on the right side, both feet on the right ground." At their confused looks, she smiled and elaborated, "Remus told me, Fred, about how long you've been a spy. And you Miss Greengrass-"

Daphne smiled, looking ever the Slytherin, "It's Weasley, actually."

McGonagall looked unimpressed, but Fred could swear he saw her smile as she measured them both up, taking in Daphne's wedding dress, now ripped and heavily stained with Charlie's and other's bloods, and Fred's formal clothing, also ripped and stained.

She raised an eyebrow, looking them both over before nodding what seemed to be a short congratulations, "I suppose it is now." She paused, seemingly lost in thoughts of her own.

She smiled at them, and spoke quickly, leaning towards them, "I suppose you'll be looking for," she lowered her voice more as people brushed past them quickly, "the _lestranges_?"

Daphne was looking at McGonagall suspiciously, and opened her mouth and inhaled deeply.

"Yes we are, Professor." Fred said, cutting her off before she begin. He grimaced sheepishly at the annoyed look she shot him while exhaling anticlimactically.

McGonagall nodded at them briskly, looking much as he was used to during her years as a stern professor. She beckoned with her head for the to follow her as she quickly walked towards the staff entrance to the Great Hall, behind where the staff table usually sat.

He was surprised to see that the door lead them to a seemingly complicated hallways with many diverging paths, branching off from the main hall in a branch-like pattern.

Daphne and Fred were more than content to let McGonigal lead the way through. In the beginning Fred made attempts to remember where they were going, but after a while gave up. He didn't know how this was related to the Lestranges, but was growing steadily more worried for them. While he knew that they could take care of each other, it still wasn't something he could help.

Eventually, McGonigal stopped walking, having lead them to a door, one of many, and stopped at it. She looked at them and when they didn't, opened the door.

The room inside was fairly large, and mostly empty. There was a desk and chair at the front, and a few couches on the other walls.

Draped in the far wall's couch, looking bored, was Bella. On the couch across from her, laying down, was Rodolphus.

Fred and Daphne rushed in, sitting next to Bella on the only available seats. Rod quickly stood up and joined them, choosing to sit on the arm of the couch, next to his wife.

Fred heard the door shut, and looked. McGonagall was gone, likely to rejoin the Light side in the Great Hall.

Rodolphus and Bella both grinned at them, freakishly similar smiles on their faces. The both hurried to get up after McGonagall left.

Fred was confused, "What's going on, why are you in here?"

Rodolphus nodded as if this was a logical line of questioning. He quickly said, "We had a… disagreement in the Great Hall after the battle stopped. We explained it to McGonagall, who already knew. Of course," he rolled his eyes at the Order, and Fred smiled before listening closely as Rod continued. "and she took us to a 'secluded, and safe room' where we could hang out until the battle starts again."

Fred and Daphne looked at him surprised and incredulous. It was silent for a moment.

Daphne spoke, stuttering looking at Rodolphus, who once mentor, in shock "and _you guys,_ of all people, believed _that_?"

Rod smirked, "Er- well, no. Of course not. But we figured that it might be better to just get on with imprisonment. And really, if they wanted us where they could keep an eye on us, and be certain, then, really, who can blame them?" Rodolphus shrugged.

Bella, standing next to him, grimace and nodded who grudging agreement.

Fred nodded, shrugging. They were adults, easily able to make their own decisions. Besides, he was fairly sure that he could throw his weight around to Lupin and Kingsley if they won and get their sentences reduced, hopefully to simply house arrest.

All four occupants of the room, after finding that the door was half heartedly locked, much to their amusement (they could easily get out if they had to, which they suspected was the point. Just to let them know to stay, but still allow them a way out) sat down on the couches. Lapsing into a comfortable, companionable silence, they all jumped (except for maybe Bella who jumped up and snarled) at the patronus that came into the room.

Fred's eyes widened in surprise and trepidation.

 **Okay, I know it's short. Super short, sadly short. But I was in a hurry today: it's the first day back after Spring Break, and WOW I was nOT ready for it. So yeah, I just really wanted to update.**

 **Again, check out my other fics, including my in preogress work: Moving On,**

 **and my other Fred is a death eater, The Other Way. Both are on my profile. :)**

 **Have an awesome day/night! Also: may bnot update for a while, but hope to have at least one other chapter done this week, hopefully longer than this one!**


	16. Death

**We've been having technical difficulties. Sorry.**

It was Ginny's patronus, a horse, and it spoke in Ginny's voice: "Fred, if you're there, the battle will be starting up again any time now, and McGonagall told be to tell you that the password, I'm not sure what for. She said that you would anyways, is 'Change'."

Her voice was soft and cold. Fred nodded, grimacing at the password choice.

The four of them, speaking the password to the still door, left quickly. Somehow, they navigated through the thick maze of hallways back to the Great Hall. Once inside the Great Hall, they were surprised at the silence that awaited them.

It wasn't, exactly, that the room was silent. It was just that there were hundreds of people in a fairly small place and Fred could hear himself when he muttered to Bella. Fred ducked his head and grabbed Daphne's hand, who was holding herself tall against the stares of the tens of people who had noticed them entering. They and Bella and Rod joined the crowd, at the back, trying to blend in.

A few minutes later, it was if a button had been pressed and the Light, the front first, started to leave. Fred couldn't tell what it was that alerted them, but they still followed the crowd out into the destroyed entrance hall, spilling out of it.

Once outside, it was obvious what was going on.

The Dark Lord was yelling that he'd killed Harry Potter. Hagrid was blankly clutching his body in his arms. Ginny and the rest of his family was near the front, yelling at the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord.

But most prominently, Fred noticed that Harry Potter's dead body was present.

He was dead.

Fred felt his stomach drop and he clutched Daphne's hand, ignoring the other people around him as they ignored him. He and Daphne pushed themselves to the front of the horror-stricken crowd, Bella and Rod with them. Most of the people were to crushed to notice them, or really care. Soon they were at the front of the crowd, a few yards from the rest of the Weasleys.

"ah, , Lestranges, Greengrass. Come to face your fate?" Voldemort said, leering at them, when he spotted them.

Fred looked at him levelly, pushed back his shoulders, raised his head, and sneered back at Voldemort. He shook out his shoulders, which was a habit he'd noticed he stepped into when he was nervous.

He was only about 50 feet from Voldemort when he raised his face, and shot a wand at Voldemort, "Avada kedavra!"

Daphne, anticipating an attack, pulled him to him and out of the beam of the spell. Fred was fairly sure that it bounded off one of the destroyed castle walls, but he wasn't sure. He grinned at Daphne as they both stood up and regained their balance.

Bella and Rodolphus, moving forward while Voldemort was still looking at Fred and Daphne, both shot spells at him, quickly gaining the offensive. Voldemort screamed at them as he was pushed back. Fred, still with Daphne smirked and exchanges a look with Daphne. They both moved forward and shot spells at the furious lord.

General chaos erupted.

The Light, emboldened, moved forward. The Dark, provoked, also advanced. The two side clashed once again, with Hagrid, Harry's body, Voldemort, the Lestranges and Daphne and Fred in the middle.

Fred shot spells furiously at Voldemort, watching in satisfaction as he tripped a few times under the barrage of spells coming at him. Behind him, Fred noticed without interest, that Hagrid was yelling for Harry's body.

Suddenly, a few minutes later with chaos still around them, Harry Potter was standing, alive, behind Voldemort with his wand raised. Fred and the other's gazes must have turned to him because Voldemort looked. When he saw Harry, alive, he immediately whipped back around to Fred and threw a purple curse at him.

Fred saw the curse, speeding towards him, but he was looking at Harry and didn't't dodge. Fred looked at it, stunned into immobility. It was going to hit him.

Time seemed to slow down then. The bright purple beam was coming directly him. Fred noticed dazedly that it was going to hit him directly in the heart.

Behind Voldemort, Harry yelled something unintelligible at Voldemort. Fred didn't understand it, he wasn't close enough to hear it clearly. Voldemort turned back around wand out.

The purple beam was very close now.

He heard a gasp of realisation next to him. Daphne. The next thing that he really processed was the force in his side, shoving him to the side, clear out of the way of the spells path.

He, on the ground, looked over in time to see Daphne, staring at him lovingly and tearfully, hit with the beam. It his her in the side, just a few more inches and it would have missed her entirely. She had fallen too, mostly on top of Fred, but not enough to dodge it, he realised. It almost missed her entirely.

He heard her scream when it hit her, and the battle stopped with it. He surged toward her, straining to get on his feet only to fall on his knees next to her broken body. Her head was tipped back, laying limply against the uneven ground and her hair was pooled angelically around her. He thought that she was dead.

His hand hovered over her arm, suddenly afraid to touch her. After a few seconds that felt like forever, sudden realisation crashed down on and he grabbed her and pulled her towards him. She was limp, but, he realised, still alive.

His mind was spinning, remembering. The beam had been purple.

He knew that curse.

It was a torture spell. It was lethal.

He pulled her to him, leaning over her and covering her with his own body. There had to be a way to stop it. To save her.

She couldn't die.

But the spell was lethal.

He numbly realised that the battle had stilled around him, probably moved away or over, but he couldn't seem to care either way anymore. What did it matter who won or lost when Daphne was in pain.

Bella and Rodolphus had come over and were kneeling on Daphne's other side, he also noted deep in his mind. He realised it, but really, it had no meaning to him.

His Daphne, he had married her only hours before, was dying. It hurt to think it. It hurt for this to be true. It hurt.

He pulled his face up, looking into their faces. Bella was tearing up, but her lips were together as if trying desperately not to let any noise out. Rodolphus' eyes also looked glossy, but his face was blank. His shoulders were back and hand clenched around his wand.

Fred bent back over Daphne, unable to look at had to talk to her, anyways. Her eyes were closed but she was still alive, he could feel it when she breathed.

"I love you so much, sweetheart." His voice was whispered, but he was speaking over her face so he knew that she could hear him. He could hear the tears in his voice himself.

She swallowed, the first obvious life sign she'd shown. "I love you too, Fred." Her voice was quieter than his but he still heard it.

He shakily smiled at her when she opened her eyes up at him. They were open for a moment, staring into his as tears dripped down his cheeks. Cradled in his arms below him, she tensed up and let out a low moan. She clenched her eyes shut and her hands found his shoulder. He sobbed quietly when he realised that it was the curse taking hold and she was in extreme pain. She gripped it for a moment before gently moving him back. She swiveled her head to Bella and Rod, somehow knowing they were there.

"Please." she croaked.

Bella and Rodolphus both seemed to understand what she wanted, because tears immediately began to pour heavier and faster down Bella's cheeks. Rodolphus nodded grimly, his face growing paler.

Fred unconsciously tightened his arms around her and looked up at them. "What does she mean?" his voice was less of a croak than hers, but definitely still hoarse.

They looked at him bleakly.

Rodolphus' shoulders slumped and he leaned forward to put his hands on Fred's. "You know what she meant. Fred."

Fred shook his head. Of course Daphne would want that, it was a torture curse after all. Of course she wouldn't want that. A quick death would be her style. But something in him couldn't stand the thought of losing her quicker than he had to. "You can't not yet. Not now. You can't… I just… Please."

Rod looked at him with undisguised pity. "It has to be now Fred. Before the curse really hurts. It's better like this."

He stood up, trying to keep his hold on Fred and pull him up too, but Fred refused to budge from her. She was tensing up again, racked with another throb of hot pain (dimly he remembered Bella saying that it was supposedly one of the most painful curses to endure at it's high, right before the victim died, and even in the beginning it was horrible). He clutched her.

He looked up at Rodolphus, knowing that it was futile and the curse couldn't be helped, but still going to suggest they go to St. Mungo's, when Rodolphus swallowed thickly and choked out the spell: "Avada kedavra." His voice was choked but the spell still fired to her.

It hit her and she died.

Fred clutched her body, pulling her off the ground and to his chest, sobbing. She was limp in his hold. Her head lolled when he pulled her off the ground. He looked at her face, tilting back and still touching the ground, and felt horror overwhelm him.

His breaths came quickly and shortly. He, horrified at the limp dead body that he had married just hours earlier, felt his arms loosen. She fell back to the ground soundly. He scrambled back up, to his feet, ignoring Rod's and Bella's shaking hands on his shoulder pulling him into an embrace. He looked back at the corpse on the ground, at Daphne.

It hit him: that corpse was Daphne.

His Daphne. The love of his life, so full of life.

She.

Was.

Dead.

He crumpled back to the ground and hugged her to him, sobbing in full.

He didn't remember what happened after that. Only that Daphne had died.


	17. The Last Chapter

**Okay, this is the last chapter. I don't love it, but I'm not rewriting it now. Maybe someday. Not today.**

 **ALSO: huge tech problems lately, i'm pretty sure with the site, and the last chapter, obviously, was... weird. I didn't see that till now, but I fixed it. So, if you haven't read it, go read it now. It's a doosey. Here's the LAST CHAPTER, finally:**

2 Years Later:

It never stopped hurting. The pain was always there, hanging over his head.

And it was hard.

But it got better. The pain stopped hurting so much, and the days got easier. The air was easier to breath, again. But he never moved on.

He just couldn't.

He decided that going back to the joke shop with his twin wasn't working just a few months after he started again. He had too much time on his hands, and far too much of his work was done independently. So he moved his things to the Ministry, unable to truly be comfortable in the sameness that existed in heaps at the apartment above the joke shop, and took up a job similar to the one Bellatrix and Rodolphus had after a short couple of months in house arrest.

He became an Unspeakable, and quickly found that the long silences and busy days fit him fine. Oddly it reminded him of being a Death Eater, though after a few months once again in the light he found that he was glad for the taste of the darkness he'd developed.

As for his parents, they'd never really reconciled. Not really.

On a good day he and his dad were talk, maybe go out to a bar or something, and they'd owl on a semi-regularity basis.

His mother and him, well, were a different story. After Daphne died, his mother was quick to swoop down and win him back over. Fred saw right through her, and they had gotten into an ugly argument over it. She'd insulted Daphne, and Fred, unable to deal with that, just left. They'd barely talked after that.

Occasionally, Arthur would try and convince Fred to talk to his mother, but Fred was unwavering in that he refused to talk to her. Maybe never again.

Life had sucked without her, but he was moving on. It had been 2 years after all.

Fred walked slowly through the maze of upright stones and the occasional statue. He knew exactly where she was, but really wasn't in any hurry to get there.

Her gravestone was still bright and pristine, looking fresh in the cemetery awash in old things. He knelt by it, realising again that he was standing directly over where she was. The closest they'd been for years. He tended to avoid visiting her in the hope of moving on, but on their anniversary and the anniversary of her death, he made the trip.

He laid the flowers on her grave, and just knelt there for a few minutes. His throat tightened swiftly, but Fred swallowed a few times. He felt his shoulders slump. He reached out a hand and touched her gravestone with his finger tips. His hands were shaking.

He stood up again, and walked away.

There was nothing for him here but memories. He was ready to move on.


End file.
